High-quality Sask. fruit crops could be surprise hit

- U of S horticulturists' work yields top-grade apples & cherries -

Saskatchewan-grown apples, like these developed and grown at the U of S orchard, are hardy, flavorful and disease-resistant. Photo by Brian Cross

Students in the Plant Sciences course on Fruit Growing work through a lab unit on oenology, or wine-processing, by cleaning small apples and pressing the fruit to extract juice. Photo by Brian Cross

U of S Plant Sciences Prof. Robert Bors, left, chats with Research Technician Forrest Scharf in the U of S orchard. Photo by Brian Cross

By Brian Cross

When you think of Canadian-grown fruit, Saskatchewan is probably not the first place that jumps to mind as a hotbed of high-quality orchard production.

But if Robert Bors and Rick Sawatzky have anything to say about it, that could all change in the next few years.

For more than two decades, the University of Saskatchewan horticulturalists have been cultivating Saskatchewan's reputation as one of the country's best and most unlikely spots to grow fruit.

On a well-concealed orchard located on U of S land bordered by College Drive, Preston Avenue, 14th Street, and Circle Drive, Bors and Sawatzky produce a diverse variety of domestic fruit species including strawberries, raspberries, plums, pears, grapes, sea buckthorn, hazelnuts, blue honeysuckle, Missouri currants and other seemingly exotic crops.

Almost any fruit species can be grown in Saskatchewan, says Bors, an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.

But it is apples and sour cherries that show the greatest promise as a base for a burgeoning commercial fruit industry on the Prairies.

"We're mainly emphasizing apples, cherries and strawberries right now," says Bors.

"The reason we're emphasizing certain crops is because they're closer to commercialization. We have good quality apples and very good quality cherries ...

"We just need a few more years and a few more orchards to come on line and things could really take off."

Fruit production is nothing new to the Prairies, but for a variety of reasons, the commercial potential of Prairie orchards has gone largely unnoticed.

The first apples were grown in Saskatchewan back in the 1920s, when early breeders introduced crab apple varieties and imported hardy Russian and eastern European cultivars as breeding stock.

At the time, Ottawa was hoping the development of a few hardy apple varieties would spur settlement in the sparsely populated West.

Today, fruit production fits well with Canadian agricultural policies that emphasize diversity and intensive crop production, two keys to maintaining a healthy rural population and a vibrant farm economy.

Compared with other fruit growing regions like the Okanagan Valley and southern Ontario, Saskatchewan is well-suited to fruit production, says Sawatzky.

Land is abundant and relatively inexpensive.

And despite the province's harsh winters and comparatively short growing seasons, the climate is ideal for producing robust, flavorful varieties of apples with excellent disease resistance and exceptional harvestability.

Sawatzky and Bors are now hoping to develop varieties that are more crisp and have better storage qualities, characteristics that could one day lead to export opportunities.

Saskatchewan-grown apples also have strong resistance to common diseases, meaning the use of chemicals can be reduced substantially - a fact that is becoming increasingly important to discerning consumers.

In that regard, organic apple production holds huge commercial potential in Saskatchewan, says Sawatzky.

Some Saskatchewan growers, such as the Yoanna Orchard at Radisson, are already capitalizing on the increasing demand for locally grown, organic apples which rival many imported varieties.

Sour cherries also show great potential, says Sawatzky, who has been breeding hybrid dwarf trees for more than 20 years.

Derived from Mongolian dwarf cherries and crossed with varieties from northern Europe and the United States, Sawatzky's hybrids have deep burgundy flesh which requires no artificial coloring and is ideal for processed fillings, jams and juices.

"We're thoroughly convinced that our germ plasm is superior to any other ..." says Sawatzky.

"They have excellent color, manageable tree size, good propagation and because the dwarf trees are just the right size, they are easy to harvest with (over-the-row) mechanical harvesters."

The use of mechanical row harvesters is a major production advantage that would reduce production costs and increase efficiency.

Saskatchewan-grown apples and cherries are also known for their palatability and their surprisingly high sugar content, qualities that are usually associated with more moderate climates such as those in California, Ontario and British Columbia's Okanagan Valley.

"Here, we have longer day lengths but we cool down at night - and that's good for building up sugar levels," says Bors.

"Our seasons are a little shorter but our sunlight hours are probably similar to other fruit growing regions in Canada."

"Any time we've done comparisons of sugar levels ... we've found our fruits to be superior," adds Sawatzky.

"As soon as we can get some of these good cultivars in the field and get some data on yields and so on ... I'm pretty sure we can show that there are some advantages here."

Expanding Prairie production is one of the biggest challenges to establishing a viable commercial fruit industry in Western Canada.

Right now, Bors and Sawatzky have a list of private sector growers, or co-operators, in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba who are hoping to diversify their farming operations and grow fruit cultivars that have been developed at the University.

These growers play a key role in propagating Saskatchewan's most promising fruit varieties.

"Right now, we have close to 120 growers on our growers list," says Bors.

"Most of them are trying our apples and they want to try our cherries as soon as the tissue culture is available."

Both Bors and Sawatzky smile wryly when asked about the preconceptions of other North American fruit growers who often assume Saskatchewan-grown fruits are inferior.

To illustrate the quality of Saskatchewan-grown cherries, Bors displays a sealer-jar filled with unprocessed fruit.

The brine inside the jar is a deep and rich color, and can be diluted to produce a ruby red liquid, ideal for punches and other fruit-based drinks.

The robust flavor of the cherries has also impressed fruit connoisseurs from across North America and around the world.

"I went to an international cherry conference last year and ... they never conceived that someone from Saskatchewan was growing cherries like this," said Bors.

"They were shocked. We're the northern-most fruit breeding program in ... North America, so we have people paying attention to us from Europe and across the United States."

"We're onto something good here and it's not just us that thinks so," adds Sawatzky.

"We just need a few more orchards to come on-line and then we'll have some numbers to crunch ... but just from eyeballing it, the commercial potential looks very good."

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