MAY 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Raspberry growers increase board size
Motion passed accommodating willing director candidates
by RONDA PAYNE ABBOTSFORD – Raspberry
growers have revamped their board structure to accommodate a rush of willing candidates. Growers attending the annual general meeting of the BC Raspberry Growers Association (BCRGA) and Raspberry Industry Development Council (RIDC) on March 27 voted to increase the RIDC board from seven members to nine to give everyone who stepped forward a place. Outgoing chair Arvin Neger completed his six years on the board so could not run again. Another board member removed his raspberry crop and is no longer a member. A third board member, Paul Sidhu, had his term up for renewal and stood for re-election. Five people ran for the three open positions. With that, members unanimously agreed to expand the board which now consists of: Paul Sidhu, James Bergen, Terry Gill, Jack Braich, Mark Adams, Jordan Alamwala, Amrit Brar, T.J. Deol, Dave Maljaars and BCRGA president Sukh Kahlon, who is not counted as one of the nine. “Everyone’s [who ran is]
invested in raspberries,” Neger explained as to why the increase was important. “It’s a turning point in our industry. We need everyone we can have.”
This opinion was echoed
by others like David Mutz. “I think it’s a good thing,”
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Full house: BC’s Raspberry Industry Development Council increased from seven to nine members due to grower interest. The new board includes (back row, left to right), ex officio member Sukh Kahlon, president, BC Raspberry Growers Association; James Bergen, chair; Terry Gill, Mark Adams, treasurer; Jack Braich; Paul Sidhu, vice-chair; ex officio member Lisa Craig, executive director; (front row, left to right) Dave Maljaars, Amrit Brar, Jordan Alamwala, and T.J. Deol. RONDA PAYNE PHOTO
Mutz said. “There’s so many places we need more representation.” John Pankratz, the financial
reviewer, was reappointed for 2018 and noted that net assets for 2017 were ahead of that of 2016. “We’ve had a couple of
strong years here, largely due to the increase in levies a couple of years ago,” Pankratz said. “Without that, we’d be falling behind again.”
Breeding program update Plant scientist and
researcher Michael Dossett updated growers on the status of the breeding program. He is “excited” about a few varieties, he said, but added only a few of the
BC-bred varieties are looking good. “We put in about 3,500 seedlings last year,” he said. “About 90% of them met the wire, so we’re pretty happy about that.”
A number of trials are ongoing and Dossett was able to give two-year cumulative views on some of
the berry varieties. “There are correlations
between yield and how late [harvest is],” he said. “If you’re going for high berry numbers to drive yield up, that correlates with later harvest.” An earlier harvest is what
growers are after, yet a half- wild selection (BC 15-08-3) was made in 2017 that defies
the odds – at least so far. It has excellent fruit size and fertility, an average of 22 berries per lateral by July 4 and is expected to have a high level of root rot tolerance. This variety will be used in crosses in 2018. “We’re still doing molecular
See RASPBERRY on next page o
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