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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • SEPTEMBER 2018 National apple programs focus of OK meeting


Research and marketing support, fungicides top list of issues


by TOM WALKER KELOWNA – The Canadian


Horticulture Council’s (CHC) apple working group met in Kelowna at the end of July during the International Fruit Tree Association’s summer tour.


The group includes


representatives from BC, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. It works with CHC staff and government agencies to advance issues affecting apple production nationwide. “We probably had about 15 people from out of province,” says Glen Lucas, general manager of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association, which hosted the meeting. Lucas said discussions


addressed a number of issues, including its desire for a national bare land replant


program. “We are still pursuing the national tree fruit investment program,” he says. “With the election coming for the fall of 2019, we will be working with local MPs to get that into election platforms.” A significant concern for


growers across the country is a proposal by the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to eliminate maximum residue limits (MRLs) for EBDC (ethylene bisdithiocarbamate) fungicides, which are primarily used to control apple scab. Scab is a minor problem in BC but a significant one for the industry in eastern Canada. Revoking MRLs would harmonize standards in Canada with those in the US. However, the working


group doesn’t anticipate such www.canadianorganicfeeds.com


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Marketing of the Salish apple variety could benefit from a national research and promotion agency for apples. FILE PHOTO


a decision given preliminary discussions with PMRA, Lucas says, calling Ottawa’s stance an “over-reaction.” “Growers are anxious to


2019 Tree Fruit Replant Program ANNOUNCEMENT:


Application forms and the updated requirements of the 2019 Tree Fruit Replant Program are now available on the BCFGA website, www.bcfga.com.


Project applications (along with the required Replant Plan) will be received between August 1, 2018 and October 31, 2018. Please avoid the last minute rush and get your application in early. An horticultural advisor is required to sign individual applications for the 2019 Tree Fruit Replant Program. The following information will be provided to assist growers in completing applications.


a. A list of qualified advisors. b. Program operational policies. c. A series of reports on replanting and variety performance and selection are available and should be referenced when preparing a Tree Fruit Replant Program Application.


The Tree Fruit Replant Program provides funding for qualified projects. Project approval is subject to funding availability and is allocated by the date of receipt of applications. Applications will be subject to a horticultural review.


The Tree Fruit Replant Program is a 7 year program, funded by the Province of BC.


Here’s to the GROWER


From all of us at FCC, thanks for making Canadian agriculture so amazing.


#HeresToCdnAg fcc.ca


have the PMRA consider whether there are any mitigation measures they can adopt, in the form of protective equipment such as gloves, to satisfy the PMRA’s concerns,” he explains. The working group also discussed the possibility of a national research and promotion agency for apples, similar to one raspberry growers recently established. “There are lots of examples of successful apple agencies in the US and certainly here in Canada the beef sector has a very successful agency,” Lucas says. “It is kind of frustrating that we can’t seem to get this rock rolling. We seem to have trouble as an industry getting


all of the different provinces to be at the same place at the same time.” As a key apple growing


province, BC should be spearheading a national apple agency, Lucas says. Ambrosia programs


through the New Tree Fruit Varieties Development Council show how effective support for a new variety can be. A tree fruit industry development fund provided $1 million over 10 years, and approximately half of it supported Ambrosia, he says. “[The council] did such


positive work to promote Ambrosia. You can see the benefits,” says Lucas. “It is difficult to envision Ambrosia even being on the market without the type of support it had early on to establish it, including the research on when to pick it and how to


store it.” Lucas compares the experience of Ambrosia to that of the Summerland variety Salish. “It is hard to say where it


would be if it was promoted adequately, but I believe it would be a successful apple,” he says. “Whenever I give Salish to my urban friends, they love it and ask where they can get it.”


The meeting in Kelowna


gave working group members a chance to look at some of the programs unique to BC. “We had presentations on the starling control program, the sterile insect release program and the Decision Aid System that are really local and don’t exist anywhere else [in Canada],” says Lucas. “By telling others them about them reinforces their value here.”


BC FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION 1-800-619-9022 (ext 1) email: replant@bcfga.com www.bcfga.com


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