A protocol integrating consumer concern about production methods with growers' efforts to improve horticultural practices and produce better fruit is the basis of a revival in the commercial apple industry on Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.

The PEI apple industry shrank throughout the last half of the twentieth century, falling from an area of 2,573 acres in 1921 to a low of 92 acres in 1986.

This led to the disappearance of an identifiable local product in stores and a shift in apple production and sales to U-pick operations.

The new protocol, drafted in Nova Scotia over the past five years and adapted for the use of local growers, aims to reverse the trend by giving local fruit its own packaging in exchange for growers' commitment to producing fruit in accordance with its rules and regulations.

Administered by the PEI Commercial Apple Growers Association and supervised by a five-member board, the program is in its first year of commercial operation. It comes at a time when production is expanding. There are now about 20 commercial growers with 120 acres of orchard.

Association President Barry Balsom, a grower located near Richmond in western PEI, said the participation of most of the province's growers in the program gives it the authority needed to succeed.

"The object of the program--it has to be to make this thing work--is that the growers don't see us as the police. They see us as helping them work this thing through," he explained. "The idea is not to punish a grower for not following the protocol; the program in mind is to make the grower achieve the criteria of the protocol. I think that's the only way it's going to work."

While it's one thing to support integrated pest management (IPM), Balsom said it's not just a simple case of reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides.

"You have to look at the ways your trees are trained, you've got to look at your orchard floor management, you've got to look at the predators you have in your orchard, the predatory mites, the whole nine yards," Balsom said.

Developed by Dr. Rob Smith, a research scientist at the Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre in Kentville, Nova Scotia, the protocol employs a point system that assesses production practices and growers' commitment to upgrading their skills. It is weighted toward practices that can forestall common problems, awarding 50 points for orchard land improvement (draining, leveling, incorporation of organic matter), 55 points for varying pesticides used in order to avoid the development of resistance among pests, and 10 to 20 points for pruning to control pests, undertaking soil and leaf analysis, using mulches, and monitoring for pests on a regular basis. Points are also awarded for participation in workshops (30) and an annual orchard tour (10).

During the season, a crop scout employed by the PEI Horticultural Association visits growers weekly to ensure the protocol is being followed. Since reducing chemical use is a primary object of the program, spray records are examined periodically and ultimately submitted to the supervisory committee, which comprises two apple producers, two government representatives, and the head of the horticultural association.

Producers scoring less than 375 of a possible 600 points are not allowed to sell under the association's label.

"All fruit has to be shown that it is produced under the protocol," Balsom said, adding that the involvement of outside organizations ensures accountability. "We didn't want to run it, because you have to realize that these programs have to be transparent, and people want to make sure it's done properly."

Balsom added that the involvement of federal research scientists such as Smith gives the program a legitimacy that some growers might not otherwise feel it has.

"It gives us great comfort that we can explain to the people that we're not turning our backs on progress. With IPM, we feel we have Agriculture Canada working with us, we've got the scientists working with us, we've got the province working with us," he said. "We want to improve what's gone on in the past."

Indeed, IPM has a distinguished history in the region. As early as the 1930s, Nova Scotia provincial entomologist A.D. Pickett was promoting an idea termed harmonized pest management. Today's protocol is a latter-day formulation of his ideas, although it also draws on the work of researchers in Europe and Massachusetts.

The Nova Scotia protocol permits growers to use synthetic sprays, so fruit cannot be labeled organic, but this isn't an issue for Balsom or Smith.

Smith doesn't expect packers to pay a premium for fruit produced under an integrated fruit production (IFP) protocol. He expects the main benefit to growers will be lower production costs.

"Instead of getting 25 percent more from the retailers, you're saving 25 percent on the input costs," he said. Smith feels the protocol is good preparation for a further development that he expects to see: intake standards. A controversial topic among many growers and packing houses in North America, Smith cites the European experience as the basis for his prediction.

"The major food buyers there are saying if it's not IFP, they won't deal with it," he said.

There's already been some uptake locally. Growers struck a deal last year with the Sobeys grocery chain that gives them shelf space in the chain's island stores for their apples, which include the Paulared, Cortland, McIntosh, and Spartan varieties. New varieties being grown include Honeycrisp, Nova Spy, and Nova Mac.

The deal was worth $66,000 to growers last year, based on production of 216,000 pounds. Balsom expects a volume this year in the vicinity of 500,000 pounds, providing consumers with a supply of local apples until January.

"The whole program has dealt with a number of issues," he said. "It's dealt with consumer concern, it's dealt with training farmers, teaching farmers who keep working farms how to grow their product. And more important, it's also identifying what the island apple is in the marketplace: what it looks like, where to find it, and here's where it's grown.

"Too often I think in the marketplace we have other people willing to define what our product is for us, and one of the things I think we've looked at and we've decided is that we're going to define our product for ourselves."