Farmers will not be allowed to use the neonic insecticide, sold under the brands Calypso and Biscaya, after April 30, 2020, when its current approval expires.

A majority of EU countries approved the proposal of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, not to extend approval.

The Commission based its assessment on findings of the European Food Safety Agency published in January 2019. It highlighted concerns about the active substance being toxic for humans and present in too great a concentration in ground water, an EFSA spokesman said in an email.

The EU prohibited the use of three so-called neonicotinoids everywhere except greenhouses in April 2018. France has already outlawed all four insecticides and one other, including in greenhouses.

In Canada, thiacloprid picked up full registration from the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency in 2007 and is sold by Bayer under the Calypso 480 SC brand.

The product is registered in the six eastern provinces and British Columbia for use in pome fruit, such as apples and pears, to control Oriental fruit moth, apple maggot and leafhopper, among others.

Bayer CropScience Canada bills the product as “the first new truly broad-spectrum insecticide for apple and pear growers since the organophosphates in the 1960s.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Marine Strauss. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

The post EU to ban Bayer’s Calypso insecticide appeared first on Country Guide.

The two governments on Tuesday announced separate AgriRecovery programs, budgeted at up to $2.69 million for fruit growers and up to $950,000 for maple syrup producers.

The Fire Blight Initiative is expected to help tree fruit growers with an “industry-led strategy” to bring fire blight under control and leave the least potential for future damage.

Post-tropical storm Arthur caused significant damage to the province’s apple and pear orchards in 2014, leading to a provincewide outbreak of fire blight affecting 95 per cent of orchards, the governments said.

Fire blight affects mainly apple and pear trees, damaging or killing blossoms and/or damaging fruit. If not properly managed, the governments said, the bacterial disease can cause “significant damage and loss” for producers.

“This will help the Nova Scotia apple industry reinvest money to continue to produce high-value fruit and capitalize on the strong export market the industry has developed,” Andrew Parker, president of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association, said in Tuesday’s release.

The governments estimate the Nova Scotia tree fruit industry’s farm cash receipts at nearly $16 million per year.

The Canada-Nova Scotia Maple Sector Initiative, meanwhile, is expected to help maple syrup producers with the recovery costs to re-establish sap collection systems damaged by excessive snowfall during the winter of 2015.

The excessive snow led to “significant damage and severe setbacks” for syrup producers, the governments said, as about 40 per cent of farmed maple trees couldn’t be tapped. Lines and taps were buried in snow and producers couldn’t access their trees.

“This funding will help our maple producers get back on their feet so they can look forward to a good production this spring and in the years to come,” said Drew Hunter, president of the Maple Producers Association of Nova Scotia, in the government’s release.

More information on both AgriRecovery programs is expected to be available “in the coming days” at AgPal.ca and through the provincial ag department.

The disaster recovery portion of the Growing Forward 2 federal/provincial ag policy funding framework, AgriRecovery is meant to respond to unforeseen disasters that result in “extraordinary” costs for producers.

AgriRecovery is also meant to respond in situations where producers don’t have the capacity to cover the extraordinary costs, even with assistance available under programs such as AgriStability, AgriInvest or AgriInsurance. — AGCanada.com Network

The post N.S. fruit, maple syrup producers get AgriRecovery appeared first on Country Guide.

The Arctic apple, developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits and submitted for federal approval in 2011, “is safe for consumption, still has all its nutritional value and therefore does not differ from other apples available on the market,” Health Canada said Friday.

Health Canada’s announcement follows a ruling last month from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which deregulated the apples for sale in the U.S.

The company, in a separate release Friday, said it hopes to have “small, test-market quantities” of its Arctic apples on the Canadian market in late 2016 and “increasing amounts” of fruit available in years to follow.

The non-browning trait “creates a wide array of benefits that offer value to the entire supply chain, especially consumers,” Okanagan Specialty Fruits president Neal Carter said in the company’s release.

The trait, which allows apples to not brown when bitten, sliced or bruised, “can help reduce food waste and improve fresh-cut suitability,” the company said.

Summerland, B.C.-based OSF described the fresh-cut market segment as “one of the fastest-growing categories of the fruit and vegetable industry… bolstered by the convenience factor and upward trend in consumption of healthier foods.”

The non-browning trait, OSF said previously, will make apples “increasingly accessible to food service outlets, where consumers spend roughly 50 per cent of their food dollars, because Arctic apples solve both cost per serving and quality concerns associated with pre-cut apples.”

Health Canada ruled the changes made to the apple don’t pose a greater risk to human health than apples already available on the Canadian market, would have no impact on allergies, and show no differences in nutritional value.

CFIA, in its assessment, found no concerns with the apples from an environmental and animal feed safety perspective.

“Identical”

Through recombinant DNA techniques, a gene is introduced into Arctic apples that leads to a reduction in the levels of enzymes that make apples turn brown when sliced, Health Canada said. “In every other way, the Arctic apple tree and its fruit are identical to any other apple.”

The apples are made non-browning through the expression of a polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme suppression cassette, which “down-regulates” enzyme levels through RNA interference.

After slicing or bruising, Health Canada noted, the Arctic apples contain higher levels of vitamin C compared to non-genetically modified counterparts. Vitamin C is acted upon by the enzyme in the browning process, so when PPO enzyme levels are reduced, vitamin C oxidation is also reduced.

That said, Health Canada added, the Arctic Apple genetic events “are not intended to be nutritionally enhanced and do not differ significantly from conventional counterparts.”

Small interfering RNA molecules (siRNAs) are expressed by the enzyme suppression sequence, but their absorption into the human body was “found to be unlikely based on numerous biological barriers,” Health Canada said, and if they were absorbed they “would not be anticipated to affect the expression of any human proteins.”

The apples’ protein selection marker gene, NptII, has been “previously approved for several genetically modified crops and a history of safe use has been demonstrated,” Health Canada said. “Furthermore, the NptII protein is expressed at negligible levels and does not accumulate in mature Arctic Apple fruit.”

Late last month, OSF announced a deal to sell itself to Maryland-based synthetic biology firm Intrexon Corp. for $41 million in Intrexon stock and cash. That deal is expected to close by mid-2015. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Health Canada clears Canadian firm’s ‘non-browning’ apples appeared first on Country Guide.

Through its Real Canadian Superstore chain, some of its No Frills stores in Ontario and some of its Maxi stores in Quebec, Loblaw on Thursday launched “Naturally Imperfect” fruit and vegetables through its store brand, No Name.

The program will start with apples and potatoes which, under the Naturally Imperfect brand, will be priced at up to 30 per cent less than “traditional” produce options found in the stores.

The types of produce now involved in the Naturally Imperfect program have previously either been redirected for further-processing in juices, sauces or soups, or were not harvested at all due to their “small” size, Loblaw said.

Loblaw, with this program, is thus “working to ensure farmers have a market for smaller, misshapen fruit ensuring it does not go to waste.”

The long-running, generically-packaged No Name grocery and household product lines are marketed through Loblaw’s retail chains as “eliminating the elements that add cost, but do not improve product quality.”

“We often focus too much on the look of produce rather than the taste,” Ian Gordon, senior vice-president for Loblaw Brands, said in the company’s release. “Once you peel or cut an apple you can’t tell it once had a blemish or was misshapen.”

The Naturally Imperfect program, he said, “is a great example of Loblaw and our vendors coming together to find an innovative way to bring nutritious food options to consumers at a great price.”

Specs

In the wake of a recent public-policy spotlight on food waste issues — not only at retail, but at the consumer, restaurant, processor and farm-gate levels — produce growers, packers and marketers have been criticized for culling edible fruits and vegetables that fall short of specifications for size, shape, colour, weight or blemishes.

According to reports in recent years from the Value Chain Management Centre, an arm of the Guelph-based George Morris Centre, processors have often downgraded or discounted such produce and flow it to alternative, and typically lesser-value, markets.

Processors, the centre said, also generate food waste losses through inaccurate or inconsistent trimming or culling, particularly when the raw inputs are of “inconsistent” quality.

Wastes from culling are “exacerbated,” the centre said, when products are developed to certain specs for retailers’ own in-house brands, leading to already-packaged surplus that can’t be sold elsewhere.

For its part, Loblaw in recent years has estimated its overall food waste losses at the retail level at about $1 billion per year, the centre noted.

Given Loblaw’s 33 per cent market share, the centre said it’s “realistic to estimate” that Canada’s retail-level food waste overall, at chains’ stores and distribution centres, is around $3 billion per year. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Loblaw’s ugly-duckling produce to get swan moment appeared first on Country Guide.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved two genetically engineered apple varieties designed to resist browning that have been developed by the Canadian company Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc.

Okanagan plans to market the apples as Arctic Granny and Arctic Golden, and says the apples are identical to their conventional counterparts except the flesh of the fruit will retain a fresh appearance even after it is sliced or bruised.

Okanagan president Neal Carter called the USDA approval “a monumental occasion.”

“It is the biggest milestone yet for us, and we can’t wait until they’re available for consumers,” he said in a statement.

Carter said Arctic apples will first be available in late 2016 in small quantities, and it will take many years before the apples are widely distributed.

The new Okanagan apples have drawn broad opposition. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA), which petitioned the USDA to deny approval, says the genetic changes that prevent browning could be harmful to human health, and pesticide levels on the apples could be excessive.

The OCA will be pressuring food companies and retail outlets not to make use of the apples, said OCA director Ronnie Cummins.

“This whole thing is just another big experiment on humans for no good reason,” he said.

USDA said it had determined the apples were “unlikely to pose a plant pest risk to agriculture” and they are “not likely to have a significant impact on the human environment.” The law only allows the agency’s decision to be based on its analysis of the plant pest risk to agriculture or other plants in the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration, which has no mandatory review process for genetically engineered foods, is looking at the new apples through a voluntary consultation with Okanagan.

Several science, environmental and consumer groups said they worry the genetic changes could have unintended consequences on insects, animals and humans.

“We think there are some possible risks that were not adequately considered,” said Doug Gurian-Sherman, a plant pathologist and senior scientist with the Center for Food Safety non-profit group.

Okanagan said in a statement its apples have undergone “rigorous review,” and are “likely the most tested apples on the planet.”

— Carey Gillam is a Reuters correspondent reporting on agriculture and agribusiness from Kansas City.

The post U.S. approves first biotech apple that resists browning appeared first on Country Guide.

BASF Canada announced Tuesday it has picked up registration for Nealta, a 200-gram-per-litre suspension concentrate of cyflumetofen, billed as a control for all life stages of tetranychid mites including eggs, nymphs and adults.

Nealta’s registration covers it for use on pome fruits (apples, pears), grapes, strawberries and tomatoes.

BASF’s product label for Nealta calls for a single rate — one litre per hectare — to control all targeted mites including two-spotted spider mite, European red mite and McDaniel spider mite.

The label calls for a pre-harvest interval of 14 days on grapes, seven days for pome fruits, three for tomatoes and one day for strawberries, and no more than two applications in a growing season, at least 14 days apart.

Given the product’s “selective activity” on tetranychid mites, Nealta offers “full safety for bees and other beneficial insects,” Scott Hodgins, BASF Canada’s brand manager for horticultural products, said in a release.

Nealta, he said, “will not only reinvigorate growers’ mite control programs, but also fit perfectly into their IPM (integrated pest management) strategies.”

The product is registered for ground application only and is not to be applied through any irrigation systems or used in greenhouse crops. The label also calls for buffer zones of up to five metres for protection of “sensitive” freshwater or ground habitats. — AGCanada.com Network

The post New chemistry launched as fruit mite control appeared first on Country Guide.

The apple sector will put $6.9 million into the program while the provincial ag department will put up a total of $2.2 million over six years, the province said Friday.

The plan, dubbed the Apple Industry Growth and Efficiency Program, will see about 455 acres of old orchards, or about 10 per cent of the provincial apple industry’s land base, replaced with newer variety apples.

Under the new program, eligible growers will get assistance with the initial capital investment and will help the sector replace older orchards with “higher-value” new varieties such as Honeycrisp, Gala, Ambrosia, Sonja and Pazazz, the province said.

The program is to be modelled after the earlier Honeycrisp Orchard Renewal Program, the province said. [Related story]

Robert Peill, president of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association, said Friday the provincial funding “will help us to respond to market demands and increase our competitiveness in the global marketplace.”

Nova Scotia’s annual farm gate revenue from apples today sits at about $13 million, and “with the industry’s plans to innovate, significant gains are expected,” the province said. — AGCanada.com Network

The post N.S. backs apple orchard renewal plan appeared first on Country Guide.