Will SIR continue?
The future of the Okanagan's Sterile Insect Release Program hangs in the balance.
B.C. Fruit Growers Association members will be voting on whether to continue participation in the SIR program, a program which aims to control the devastating damage to apple and pear crops by the codling moth.
Ballots are being mailed to all BCFGA members, and results of the referendum will be released at the association's AGM January 27.
At the heart of the issue is a 20 per cent increase in the cost of the program, due in part to a reduced financial contribution by the regional districts.
Although the regional districts are still providing significant funding to the program, the SIR Board members were under increased pressure to transfer more funding commit-ment to the main beneficiaries of the program – the growers, said BCFGA President Joe Sardinha.
We have been fortunate in that the provincial and federal governments have provided $2.6 million over the next two years, which enables us to operate on a budget of $4.2 million and which will allow us to try to achieve a target of greater than 90 per cent of orchard parcels valley-wide with less than .2 per cent codling moth damage.rnCosts are also rising due to a decrease in the urban share of the costs of the program. Urban property owners have been paying 15 cents for each $1,000 of their assessed land value, but that is expected to fall to ten cents this year. This means growers are looking at paying $122 per acre, up from $100.
Sardinha admitted the program has had some growing pains over the last ten years, but said he believes the results are coming along in zones two (Kelowna/Winfield) and three (Vernon/Shuswap).
In most cases in zone one (Summerland south to the border), most growers are no longer spraying, said Sardinha.
He added that the vote will show the BCFGA what the active support level is, and said the decision will be binding.
OK Sterile Insect Release Program General Manager Cara McCurrach, said growers need to ask themselves what they would do without the program.
Staffing levels fluctuate during the production season (March to October) and off-season (November to February). Overall, the SIR staffing ranges from 22 to 120 employees.
The rearing facility in Osoyoos employs 36 staff in-season and eight to ten off-season. Field staff in zone one includes 21 in-season and 4 off-season employees.
Sardinha feels to scrap the program at this point would be a mistake.
Personally, I think it would be a huge mistake to backtrack and abandon a program where we've already spent more than $55 million to this point.
Not only are costs of pesticides rising, but I am concerned about pesticide exposure to our families, employees, neighbours and pets. We, as the growers, are at the greatest risk because we mix the active ingredients.rnSardinha said with increasing awareness about the environment, it makes better sense to continue green measures, such as the Sterile Insect Release Program, to control pests.
