Up to $2.69 million will be made available to Nova Scotia fruit tree growers to help them financially recover from an outbreak of fire blight in trees that followed post-tropical storm Arthur in 2014.
The federal and provincial governments announced funding for the five-year initiative on Tuesday night, which will be paid for 60 and 40 per cent each, respectively.
Fire blight is a disease that affects apple and pear trees; 95 per cent of orchards in the province were affected by the 2014 outbreak.
The Fire Blight Initiative, which is part of the AgriRecovery Framework, will help growers “bring fire blight under control and minimize the potential for damage in the future,” according to an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada press release.
“This is easily the worst outbreak we’ve ever had,” said Larry Lutz, an apple grower and tree fruit specialist, in 2014.
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Growers said 2015’s harvest was significantly better than the previous year.
“This will help the Nova Scotia apple industry reinvest money to continue to produce high-value fruit and capitalize on the strong export market the industry has developed,” said Andrew Parker, president of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association, in the press release.
– With files from Natasha Pace
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