Two preeminent scientists have been appointed to the board of Summerland Varieties Corporation.
Frank Kappel, a retired cherry breeder, and Norman Looney, scientist emeritus, both of Agriculture and AgriFoods Canada, were appointed to the board of SVC Aug. 25 by the sole shareholder, the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association.
SVC is agent for some of the most successful varieties in the world, including the ambrosia apple and staccato cherries.
SVC is also agent for promising new varieties such as the Salish apple and the sentennial cherry varieties.
“I am very pleased to have the interest and efforts of two of the top plant breeding/horticultural scientists in Canada on the board of Summerland Varieties Corporation”, said Fred Steele, BCFGA president.
“These appointments demonstrate the bond between the national cherry and apple breeding programs at Agriculture and AgrFoods Canada, and the new tree fruit variety development efforts of SVC.”
SVC was established in 1993 to be an agent for owners of new varieties of tree fruit and berries. SVC administers technical, legal and contractual items for the owners of the new varieties and assists in ensuring the commercial success of promising new varieties of tree fruits and berries. It also operates a budwood orchard that provides growers with virus-indexed budwood for grafting and supports scientific research and development in support of the tree fruit industry.
The BCFGA is an agriculture association with a membership of 550 commercial tree fruit growers in B.C.
