The Okanagan Plant Improvement Corporation has made some changes to its operations.
John Kingsmith is leaving as chief executive officer and he will be replaced by Keith Carlson, a board member who was chairperson of the plant breeders’ rights management company.
“My focus will be on business development and client satisfaction,” said Carlson.
Office operations of PICO will be co-located in Summerland with the B.C. Fruit Growers Association and the two organizations plan to share some common services.
“These changes are being driven by cost reduction and efficiency gains mandated by the BCFGA board,” said Jeet Dukhia, BCFGA president and Vernon orchardist.
“While PICO is profitable, we want to ensure it has the greatest possible benefit for B.C. and Canadian growers, as well as be efficient in the operation of the BCFGA office.”
PICO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BCFGA and the operation of the two organizations will remain independent.
PICO was established in 1993 to provide a service to the owners of plant breeders’ rights, a form of ownership of newly developed varieties of plants.
PICO administers technical, legal and contractual items for the owners of the new fruit varieties and assists in ensuring the commercial success of promising new varieties of tree fruits and berries within the context of a Canada first policy.
It also operates a budwood orchard that provides growers with true-to-type, virus-indexed budwood for grafting and supports scientific research and development in support of the tree fruit industry.
PICO is currently agent for some of the most successful varieties in the world, including the ambrosia apple and staccato cherries.
PICO is also agent for promising new varieties such as the salish apple (released in 2012) and the sentennial cherry variety.
The BCFGA is an agriculture association with a membership of 550 commercial tree fruit growers in the province.
It celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2014.
