Chronica - Acta Horticulturae

Figure 2. Production and value of sweet cherries in British Columbia from early 1900s to
2004. A. Annual production (x1000 kg); B. Annual total value (x1000 $ CDN); C. Price per
kilogram ($ CDN) ($1 CDN = $0.856 US).
Annual production (x 1000 kg)
Total value (x $1000)
Price per kilogram ($)
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
A
C
B
changed throughout the years (Kappel and Lay,
1997) but the program has been successful in
releasing cultivars that are not only grown locally,
but many of the releases have been planted
in cherry growing regions around the world.
Success of the program has been due to the
long-term commitment by Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada and the accumulated work
of the previous breeders, A.J. Mann, K. Lapins,
and W.D. Lane. Significant contributions in earlier
years include ‘Van’ (released 1944), ‘Stella’,
the first self-fertile sweet cherry with reasonable
quality (1968), and ‘Summit’, a very large
fruited cherry (1973). The releases from PARC-
Summerland that have had a direct impact on
the recent growth of the sweet cherry industry
are ‘Lapins’ (1984), ‘Sweetheart’ (1994) and
‘Staccato’ (2000) (Fig. 3). These cultivars are
self-fertile, and have good fruit quality (large
and firm). They also mature later than the traditional
cultivars, which allows most growers to
avoid significant competition in most years
from the state of Washington in the US.
Production of ‘Staccato’ in the northern cherry
growing region of British Columbia ensures
growers can be in the marketplace at the end
of August thereby being one of the few areas in
the world with high quality cherries still available
for sale. The recent introductions of
‘Sovereign’ and ‘Sentennial’ (Fig. 4) will extend
the harvest season about another week.
‘Sovereign’, tested as 13S-21-01 was named in
honour of Queen Elizabeth’s 80th birthday.
‘Sentennial’, formerly tested as SPC103, was
named in honour of the District of
Summerland’s Centennial celebrations in 2006.
The use of the letter “S” in the spelling of
Figure 3. ‘Lapins’, ‘Sweetheart’, and
‘Staccato’ sweet cherry.
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year
corrugated cardboard loosely filled with cherries.
Transportation was predominately by rail in
the early days and eventually moved to refrigerated
transport truck. The competition from the
Pacific Northwest United States was considered
the greatest problem for the British Columbia
fruit industry (Winslow, 1913) and it remains so
today.
Annual sweet cherry production increased fairly
steadily until the mid-1940s when production
became erratic from year to year but generally
continued on an upward trend (Fig. 2A). The
value of the crop in British Columbia was also
stable during the early years of the industry
until the early 1940s (Fig. 2B). Prices then became
a little more erratic; however, the trend
was for increasing value. The price per pound
was quite low from 1917 until the mid 1970s
(Fig. 2C) when prices began to increase slightly.
Dramatic increases occurred in the mid 1980s
and generally continue to this day. These price
increases coincided with the release and adoption
of the late season cultivars released by
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada breeding
program at the Pacific Agri-Food Research
Centre (PARC) at Summerland, British
Columbia. Price increases also coincided with
the beginning of the export trade of BC cherries
and increased as the volume of fruit being
exported increased. The increased returns to
growers have generated significant interest in
the cherry industry both with traditional and
non-traditional cherry growers resulting in
increasing acreages of cherries in British
Columbia. The increase in crop area has in turn
fuelled an increased interest in new cultivars,
primarily late season cherries. Currently, the cultivars
grown predominately in British Columbia
have come from PARC-Summerland.
Sweet cherry breeding at PARC-Summerland
began in 1936 and has continued to this day.
The goals of the breeding program have
Lapins
Sweetheart
Staccato
ISHS • 18