12/15/06 Science Fiction, Technology & Tree Fruit

Looking back at how our ancestors did things and then seeing what leaps have been made in technology in the present can boggle the mind. The when you think what advances will be made in the coming 25 to 50 years, it really can be exciting. Jim McFerson with the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission recently looked at possible scenarios for the future of the tree fruit industry and he says it really boils down to one thing. MCFERSON: There's a major project in Europe right now, it's called ESAFruit and they have taken it upon themselves, 16 countries, 62 partners, $17 million bucks. What they're doing is putting a lot of money into driving fruit consumption which to me is till the frontier. We need to increase fruit consumption in this country and throughout the world at least double. I think that's the bottom line is getting the consumers to buy a whole lot of our stuff. That's what they're doing from a research perspective in Europe. McFerson was adamant that continued research was vital for the industry but that fruit quality is a must. MCFERSON: It's certainly not science fiction that we have global competition and cost structure that's really brutal. It's here now, it's serious and it's not going away. The future is; it's going to take a lot of work but we have opportunities. There's a world out there that our crops and our products, they're really desirous of them but we need better technology, development and implementation; better trained work force; better product quality. I mean we've got to maintain, guarantee product quality. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.