Canadian cherry growers benefit from government policy
Transcript
This is a story of how government has developed a policy to improve the livelihood of Canadian cherry growers. The Okanagan Valley, located in the province of British Colombia, is the heart of Canada’s cherry growing region.
Since the introduction of Plant Breeders’ Rights in 1991, a special relationship has developed between cherry growers in the region, and the Government of Canada.
Canada introduced its system of plant breeders’ rights and became a member of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in 1991.
In the early 1990’s, the British Columbia Fruit Growers’ Association partnered with the Federal Government and created a corporation to commercialize new cherry varieties developed from the region’s public breeding programme.
Summerland Varieties Corporation came into existence to manage the commercialization and intellectual property rights of new cherry varieties entering the marketplace, both domestically and internationally.
David Machial, Cherry Grower, Oliver, British Columbia
The Summerland breeding program, it’s very important, because to make money in this business, you have to sell a premium cherry. It has to be big, firm, juicy and sweet, and the cherries that have come out of Summerland meet those requirements, so you can go into the marketplace. You can get premium price. Your customers are happy. Consumers love to eat them. It’s just a win-win-win.
Canadian cherry growers are very supportive of their public cherry breeding program.
Summerland Varieties Corporation uses Plant Breeders’ Rights to protect their investments in research and development, as well as support their competitiveness in international markets.
Significant efforts have been placed on breeding late ripening cherry varieties, to extend the production season. Some of the more recent releases of cherry varieties include; Staccato and Sentennial, which are popular with growers and buyers alike.
Nick Ibuki, Business Development Manager, Summerland Varieties Corporation
One of the biggest competitive challenges in the past, before plant breeders’ right was that new varieties would be developed here in British Columbia and they would go all over the world and they would actually be used to compete against our BC growers.
So our growers would be competing against varieties that they paid for to develop here and there be similar harvest timing, except in the rest of the world they could plant them in a lot bigger areas and acreages.
The biggest change going forward in the future is some of the exciting varieties that have been developed here at the Summerland research and development centre. And what they have done is that they have actually developed varieties that harvest very early to very late. So they’ve been able to extend that harvest season so they can have varieties available from mid-June all the way into early September, which has really been a benefit to the Canadian growers and allowed for them to expand their acreages and support themselves.
These cherry varieties are proving to be successful not only with growers in Canada, but also with growers internationally.
Summerland Varieties Corporation manages all licensing agreements when Canadian bred cherry varieties are grown and sold in other countries. They do so in a way that ensures that Canadian growers are the first to benefit from new varieties entering the marketplace.
Sean Beirnes, General Manager, Summerland Varieties Corporation
When it comes to licencing, we provide Canadian growers and marketers with priority access. By strategically allocating production and marketing territories, we ensure that Canadian growers and marketers, who represent a very small portion of the international fruit market, have an even playing field on which to compete. We would not be able to do this without plant breeders’ rights.
The new cherry varieties released into the marketplace are being bred by the Canadian Government’s Summerland Research and Development Centre. In fact, 80% of the sweet cherry varieties grown worldwide can trace their lineage back to this breeding station.
Plant Breeders’ Rights intellectual property protection is the foundation of this partnership between Canadian cherry growers and the federal government breeding program. The revenue from royalties ensures a steady stream of income that can be re-invested in plant breeding, funding a continuous pipeline of new and improved varieties for Canadian growers moving into the future.
Erin Wallich, Research and Development Manager, Summerland Varieties Corporation
The ultimate goal of Summerland Variety in terms of supporting the domestic cherry growers, as well as the cherry breeding programme at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, is to bring in enough royalties from both domestic growers and international growers that we can create a self-sustaining breeding programme at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
David Machial, Cherry Grower, Oliver, British Columbia
15 years ago, if you’d asked me how I feel about royalties, I wouldn’t have been for it, because, you know, you go out and plant 2,000 trees and then you have to pay let’s say 2,500 dollars in royalties. I’d rather have that money in my pocket. But now that I have more experience growing cherries, I’m very comfortable with it because I know that money is going back into the breeding programme, which is going to develop new cherry varieties that I can be successful with in the future.
This is a story of how government has developed a policy to improve the livelihood of Canadian cherry growers. The Okanagan Valley, located in the province of British Colombia, is the heart of Canada’s cherry growing region.
Since the introduction of Plant Breeders’ Rights in 1991, a special relationship has developed between cherry growers in the region, and the Government of Canada.
Canada introduced its system of plant breeders’ rights and became a member of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in 1991.
In the early 1990’s, the British Columbia Fruit Growers’ Association partnered with the Federal Government and created a corporation to commercialize new cherry varieties developed from the region’s public breeding programme.
Summerland Varieties Corporation came into existence to manage the commercialization and intellectual property rights of new cherry varieties entering the marketplace, both domestically and internationally.
David Machial, Cherry Grower, Oliver, British Columbia
The Summerland breeding program, it’s very important, because to make money in this business, you have to sell a premium cherry. It has to be big, firm, juicy and sweet, and the cherries that have come out of Summerland meet those requirements, so you can go into the marketplace. You can get premium price. Your customers are happy. Consumers love to eat them. It’s just a win-win-win.
Canadian cherry growers are very supportive of their public cherry breeding program.
Summerland Varieties Corporation uses Plant Breeders’ Rights to protect their investments in research and development, as well as support their competitiveness in international markets.
Significant efforts have been placed on breeding late ripening cherry varieties, to extend the production season. Some of the more recent releases of cherry varieties include; Staccato and Sentennial, which are popular with growers and buyers alike.
Nick Ibuki, Business Development Manager, Summerland Varieties Corporation
One of the biggest competitive challenges in the past, before plant breeders’ right was that new varieties would be developed here in British Columbia and they would go all over the world and they would actually be used to compete against our BC growers.
So our growers would be competing against varieties that they paid for to develop here and there be similar harvest timing, except in the rest of the world they could plant them in a lot bigger areas and acreages.
The biggest change going forward in the future is some of the exciting varieties that have been developed here at the Summerland research and development centre. And what they have done is that they have actually developed varieties that harvest very early to very late. So they’ve been able to extend that harvest season so they can have varieties available from mid-June all the way into early September, which has really been a benefit to the Canadian growers and allowed for them to expand their acreages and support themselves.
These cherry varieties are proving to be successful not only with growers in Canada, but also with growers internationally.
Summerland Varieties Corporation manages all licensing agreements when Canadian bred cherry varieties are grown and sold in other countries. They do so in a way that ensures that Canadian growers are the first to benefit from new varieties entering the marketplace.
Sean Beirnes, General Manager, Summerland Varieties Corporation
When it comes to licencing, we provide Canadian growers and marketers with priority access. By strategically allocating production and marketing territories, we ensure that Canadian growers and marketers, who represent a very small portion of the international fruit market, have an even playing field on which to compete. We would not be able to do this without plant breeders’ rights.
The new cherry varieties released into the marketplace are being bred by the Canadian Government’s Summerland Research and Development Centre. In fact, 80% of the sweet cherry varieties grown worldwide can trace their lineage back to this breeding station.
Plant Breeders’ Rights intellectual property protection is the foundation of this partnership between Canadian cherry growers and the federal government breeding program. The revenue from royalties ensures a steady stream of income that can be re-invested in plant breeding, funding a continuous pipeline of new and improved varieties for Canadian growers moving into the future.
Erin Wallich, Research and Development Manager, Summerland Varieties Corporation
The ultimate goal of Summerland Variety in terms of supporting the domestic cherry growers, as well as the cherry breeding programme at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, is to bring in enough royalties from both domestic growers and international growers that we can create a self-sustaining breeding programme at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
David Machial, Cherry Grower, Oliver, British Columbia
15 years ago, if you’d asked me how I feel about royalties, I wouldn’t have been for it, because, you know, you go out and plant 2,000 trees and then you have to pay let’s say 2,500 dollars in royalties. I’d rather have that money in my pocket. But now that I have more experience growing cherries, I’m very comfortable with it because I know that money is going back into the breeding programme, which is going to develop new cherry varieties that I can be successful with in the future.
April 20, 2018