Saskatchewan's Fruit Growing Champions
The fruit "industry" in Saskatchewan dates back several thousand years! It is now expanding commercially, producing many environmental benefits.
Historically, native fruit species such as the saskatoon, buffaloberry, pincherry, blueberry, and chokecherry were important to indigenous peoples and in recent centuries, explorers and settlers.
Early plant breeders focused on domestic species such as apples. Dr. C.F. Patterson, at the University of Saskatchewan, began breeding apples and crabapples in the 1920s. Many farmers became interested in growing apples as a result of the releases from the early breeding programs. Several developed orchards that sold fruit to the larger community including the Heaver orchard near Raddison, Seager Wheeler's orchard near Rosthern, Peter J. Neufeld's orchard near Laird and the McCloy orchard near Kinistino.
Dave Robinson, a colleague of Patterson, became extension horticulturist for the University's horticulture department after WWII. He was keenly interested in promoting hardy tree fruits and helped set up eight test orchards across Saskatchewan. He also supervised local horticultural societies and helped raise the number in the province from 11 to 41.
However, in the 1950s market dynamics and cold storage and distribution technology began to favor fruit production in warmer climates. Locally produced fruit did not have the same appeal and winter hardiness was also a problem for growers. Commercial apple production on the prairies was almost non-existent between 1950 and 1985. It was revived in the last two decades with the introduction of good apple cultivars from the Prairie Co-operative Fruit Breeding Project. In Saskatchewan, 30,000 seedlings have been tested for fruit quality.
The breeding of dwarf sour cherries in Saskatchewan began in the 1940s when Dr. Les Kerr moved from his research post at Morden, Manitoba to become director of the Tree Nursery in Sutherland. At Morden he had begun crossing the European cherry with the hardy Mongolian Cherry. The past 60 years of breeding have produced cold hardiness, dwarf stature and good fruit quality. Recent cherry releases by the University of Saskatchewan have initiated a cherry growing industry in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatoon Fruit Breeding and Research Program at the University of Saskatchewan has one of the largest collection of hybrid strawberries in the world. Several high yielding and cold hardy raspberries have also been developed. Hybrid hazelnuts are also being bred and imported and edible blue honeysuckle is being investigated.
Native fruit development has only taken off in recent years. It is recorded that the explorer David Thompson suggested in 1787 that the saskatoon should be cultivated!
Beginning in the 1980s, Richard St. Pierre built a unique, internationally recognized program of research and industry development primarily focused on saskatoons. The University-based research program resulted in 264 technical publications. In 1997, St Pierre produced the definitive "Growing Saskatoons: A Manual for Orchardists".
In 1980, there were about eight ha in fruit production in Saskatchewan. In 2002, that had expanded to 613 ha and 328 growers. In 2001, two million pounds of saskatoons were produced, with 500,000 pounds being processed. The total value of the province's saskatoon-berry crop in 2001 for both processed and fresh berries was $6.5 million.
The Saskatchewan Fruit Growers' Association (SFGA) is a grower-directed association which works with researchers, government, processors and consumers to develop a strong and vibrant fruit industry.
The SFGA lists 71 different orchards with 15 different fruits available to pick across Saskatchewan. Besides strawberries and saskatoons, many people are getting into raspberry, cherry and apple production. Nanking cherries, highbush cranberries, grapes, chokecherries, buffaloberry and pincherries are also being produced.
Technical support for fruit growers is provided by Clarence Peters, Fruit Specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture. Bob Bors and Rick Sawatzky of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan continue work on domestic fruit improvement and development.
The Native Fruit Development program at Plant Sciences lost its core funding and St Pierre is now Research Scientist in BioDiversity with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The primary focus of his research is the acquisition, conservation, regeneration, and analysis of Canadian wild plant species.
The growth of small scale production of fruits in yards, small orchards and shelterbelts is a significant aspect of the diversification of agricultural systems. This has ecological, economic and social benefits. Increased diversity and the growing of perennial plants contribute to general ecological resilience. Most fruit growers also plant shelterbelts for creating microclimate effects. In combination, such plantings serve multiple functions as ornamental plantings and a food source and habitat for birds.
A major aspect of production in Saskatchewan is that the climate and the remoteness of production sites allows apples and other non-native fruits to escape many diseases and pests. Thus organic production is much more feasible. Moreover, local production means a reduction in the energy costs of transport for food and in the case of fruit invites human involvement, interest and pleasure, as in U-pick operations. The Saskatchewan experience also shows that research support for a young fruit industry needs to run for decades to "bear fruit".
To find out more about the Saskatchewan fruit industry, visit: http://www.saskfruit.com and http://www.usask.ca/agriculture/plantsci/index.html.
Richard St-Pierre, leader of the Native Fruit Development Program, displays his 1997 book Growing Saskatoons: A Manual for Orchardists.
Photo Credit: On Campus News, University of Saskatchewan