Struggling B.C. fruit growers say province lagging on promise of help [Video]

The BC Fruit Growers Association says the provincial government hasn’t done enough to follow through on promises to help the industry.

Growers in B.C.’s interior were devastated in January this year by a sudden deep freeze that killed fruit blossoms. That meant most trees failed to produce fruit this year, while grapes were left frozen on the vine.

The sector’s problems were magnified this summer by the sudden collapse of the BC Tree Fruits Co-operative.

“It’s been a tough few years. This year I can feel the anxiety across the Okanagan, across all (agricultural) sectors, if it’s wine grapes, if it’s tree fruits, whatever it is,” BC Fruit Growers vice-president Deep Brar told Global News.

“We are all checking the weather daily, we’re hoping that that one day doesn’t come that could basically send us back into the same turmoil we were this past year.”

Brar said the industry remains in limbo, amid promises for …