Feds skimp on horticulture research

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

by SUSAN MANN

Canada’s horticultural industry had a tough time accessing funding under a federal government program that enabled farm groups to pull together national scientific and technical resources to establish research clusters.

The fruit and vegetable sector is getting just $3.6 million. That’s nearly $11 million less than the top recipient sector so far, canola/flax, and more than $2.5 million less than the second-lowest recipient sector, beef. It had applied for $11 million.

“We were certainly aware that we weren’t going to get the full amount, says Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association chair Brian Gilroy. “But we were certainly hoping for at least double to what we did get.”

He says horticulture didn’t get the amount of funding it should have received based on the value of the industry in Canada. Statistics Canada’s indicates total sales of fruits and vegetables by Canadian farmers in 2009 were $1.5 billion, up 3.6 per cent or $50.5 million over 2008.

Canadian Horticultural Council executive vice president Anne Fowlie says the $11 million was a wish list. “We appreciate the funding that was accorded.”

Julie Mercantini, manager of the Canadian agri-science clusters initiative, says she can’t talk publicly about the cluster until it’s officially announced by the federal agriculture minister. She didn’t know when that announcement would be made.

Excluding horticulture, the federal government has so far contributed $44.3 million for agri-science research clusters. The amounts are: canola/flax - $14.5 million; pork - $9.6 million; dairy - $7.151 million; pulses - $7 million; and beef - $6.115.

The cluster program supports research into enhanced profitability and competitiveness. The money comes from the Growing Canadian Agri-Innovations program, a $158 million, five-year program announced last May to support industry-led science and technology projects. Other projects in addition to the farm-industry clusters are funded under the program. Each industry has to contribute 25 per cent in funding to its cluster.

Harold Schooley, Ontario Fruits and Vegetable Growers’ Association research chair, says the fact that the sector only got a third of the money it requested means that some projects just won’t get done. Both Schooley and Gilroy are on the national industry committee that prioritized projects.
                                                                                                                                    
Gilroy says the sector didn't know the eligibility rules for the funding before submitting its proposal. “They hadn’t rolled the rules out then. But as the program was evolving so too was the move (by the federal government) from some grant programs to all contribution-agreement style programs.”

The complicated structure of the horticultural industry made it difficult to compile an application. The sector’s diversity meant having to consult extensively before the application was completed: “we’re hundreds of different crops, from parsnips to rutabagas,” he says.

It has made raising the industry’s required 25 per cent contribution to the clustera challenge. Gilroy explains that some horticultural crops are unregulated and don’t have check-offs.

In contrast, many of the other cluster recipients are single commodities or ones that handle similar crops and are well organized. For supply-managed commodities that have research check-offs, it’s relatively easy to get the money for the industry’s 25 per cent contribution to the cluster, he says.

Another challenge was convincing government officials of the complexity of horticulture. There weren’t any special considerations made for “our complexity,” Gilroy notes.  

He says there are some good parts to the cluster program, such as industry has more say in what research is pursued. “All we can do is to remain optimistic that our needs will be addressed.” BF