Horticulture
Successful solutions
- Developed sweet cherries (high-quality, later maturing) and fruit handling processes for shipment by sea to expand markets into Asia.
- Developed cultivars, post-storage handling of whole apples and processing recommendations for fresh-cut packaged apple; collaborated with industry partners to release and test new apples.
- Improved Braeburn and Honeycrisp apple quality by using mulches in re-plant disease situations and including fertilizers with irrigation (fertigation).
- New strategies for area-wide pest management complements the Sterile Insect Release Program and have led to reduced insecticide use and increased organic apple and pear production in interior B.C.
- Input to 2013 phytosanitary processes (fruit fly management) which resulted in exportation of cherries to China.
- Contributed the use of drought tolerant plants and ground cover to manage insect pests for sustainable wine grape production.
- Contributed to new minor use pesticide registrations through field trials for various tree fruits, vegetables, greenhouse and other specialty crops.
- Plum Pox Virus (PPV) control: developed commercial diagnostic test (5 million tests sold worldwide); seasonal susceptibility of trees; showed that within Prunus, the virus is limited to peaches; use of horticultural oils to control virus transmission by aphids.
- Developed control strategies and characterized virus strains affecting greenhouse tomatoes in Ontario, Blueberry scorch in B.C. and a new virus infecting strawberries in eastern Canada.
4200 Highway #97
Summerland, BC V0H 1Z0
Canada(250) 494-7711