SIR Program Showing Benefits

Written by Peter McIntyre Thursday, 26 November 2009 10:52 107.5 KISSFM:

The money Okanagan communities are investing in the Sterile Insect Release program is paying off. That was the message from the program's vice chair Allan Patton who made a presentation to Vernon council. He says the initiative has made apples more valuable on the world market, and reduced chemical use in orchards by 97-thousand pounds since 1992. "Years ago when we had to deal with the codling moth problem, we basically filled up the valley with organo-phosphate sprays all summer long, and if you notice that just isn't happening anymore. It's been a huge benefit that way." Patton says the program has reduced codling moth damage to under one percent (0.2 %), in 90 percent of Okanagan orchards. Patton says SIR's budget last year was three million dollars, adding the amount funded through property tax fell from $2.3 million to $1.6 million. He says the goal is to eventually have farmers paying as much as residents, adding their budget has been declining for a "long time." Vernon homeowners pay anywhere from $6 to $20 a year for the program, which Patton says amount to "a couple of lattes a year.' The initiative applies nature-friendly technology to the control of codling moth, the BC tree fruit industry's most damaging and costly pest.