BY: CHRISTINA TURI 

In March 2025, I celebrated my one-year work anniversary with the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada (FVGC). It is hard to believe that a whole year has passed!

First and foremost, I want to thank FVGC’s staff, the growers and their associations for welcoming me with open arms and honesty from the get-go. The learning curve for crop protection is steep, with some of the files spanning almost a decade. I am therefore so grateful to FVGC’s Crop Protection Advisory Group (CPAG) for their support. 

Having CPAG’s knowledge and expertise at my disposal has been instrumental and I hope in the upcoming year to be able to pass this gift forward through greater outreach, education and advocacy.  I anticipate that my workload will be anything but predictable this year; despite this uncertainty, I can say with absolute certainty that CPAG remains committed to advocating for an efficient, timely and science-based pesticide regulatory system that supports pest management in Canada’s fruit and vegetable crops.

Last month, FVGC wrapped up its Conference and Annual General Meeting in Québec City. During this meeting, CPAG along with the rest of FVGC’s membership engaged in discussions and planning for the year ahead. CPAG will reconvene in April to finalize its work plan. These are some of the priorities that the group will tackle. 

FVGC’s Fresh Approach 

For the past year, FVGC has been working on developing its “Fresh Approach” which is ultimately a commitment to solidarity, unity, and delivering real results that matter to our growers. As part of this effort, FVGC will be developing a new strategic plan to define a fresh value proposition for its members. To achieve this, FVGC will be engaging with its membership (working groups, directors, staff) and external stakeholders over the coming year, and anticipates an implementation plan for FVGC’s strategic plan to be finalized during next year’s AGM. 

CPAG will work closely with FVGC’s leadership to develop a solid approach for elevating crop protection as a government priority. Furthermore, the organization is rethinking how it communicates with its membership and would love to hear your thoughts as this information will help us to best position how updates for crop protection are being disseminated. 

Supporting ad hoc initiatives that are critical to our sector

In February 2025, FVGC’s CPAG held its annual face-to-face meeting in Ottawa and during this time, its members shared concerns regarding impacts from tariffs on agricultural inputs and also held roundtable discussions aimed at identifying crop protection priorities in the next election cycle. In the coming months, it is anticipated that CPAG will work closely with FVGC’s working groups and leadership to ensure issues which relate to crop protection are feeding into broader FVGC initiatives. 

 

PMRA transformation 

Since winter 2021/2022 CPAG has been actively engaging with PMRA through numerous avenues and the 2024 calendar year was extremely active. A complete summary of all activities can be viewed by consulting FVGC’s annual report. 

CPAG remains concerned that initiatives under transformation (e.g. continuous oversight) could detract PMRA from its core functions which include pre- and post-market review of products. Given activities which relate to modernization of practices at PMRA are still under development, it is anticipated that much discussion will be centered around these efforts in the upcoming year. 

Re-evaluation and special review decisions

While the 2024 calendar was relatively quiet, there are many re-evaluation and special review decisions on the horizon in 2025 (see FVGC’s Annual Report). CPAG continues to vocalize grower concerns regarding timing of decisions and the need for earlier engagement during the review process. With that being said, growers should be prepared to supply use pattern information in the event that unfavourable decisions are published this year. 

Taking action on AGM resolutions 

During the FVGC 2025 Annual General Meeting, there were several resolutions put forth by the membership which relate to crop protection. I anticipate that CPAG’s upcoming work plan will be geared towards achieving results on these items. 

1.Restoring Capacity and Output to the Minor Use Pesticide Program (MUPP)

Description: The MUPP was created in 2003 as a framework to support registrations for pest control products that would not typically enter the Canadian market given their use on “minor crops” and lack of sales potential to justify registrant investment. Since the MUPP’s inception, it has been sustained under temporary funding obtained through the five-year agriculture policy frameworks, currently the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership (SCAP). Unfortunately, output under SCAP is approximately half the level produced under Growing Forward (2008-2013), which in turn limits the ability for growers to obtain label expansions on fruit and vegetable crops. 

 

2.Expedited approval for the use of sprayer drones for pest management in agriculture and subsequent expedited pesticide label amendments

Description: At the present time, use of drones for application of conventional pesticides is not approved in Canada as there are data gaps with respect to whether drone application is comparable to use patterns associated with aerial application. To bridge this gap, the Pest Management Centre (PMC) has been analyzing residue data that was collected through residue trials (conducted in 2023) and efficacy studies (AAFC20-021 & 20-024). After review, PMRA will be able to deduce whether residue data on crops treated with conventional equipment can support applications to crops treated with drones. In addition to the above-mentioned trials, PMRA, is also working with international collaborators to assess potential for spray drift and validate their assumptions regarding occupational exposure. 

3.Developing a predictable label process for label change

Description: While product label changes are common practice and often do not require or involve grower input, there are certain instances that require grower input and consideration of supply chain impacts. For example, registered uses for lambda-cyhalothrin on apple and peach were recently cancelled in order to re-instate certain feed uses of the product, as the PMRA’s risk assessment could not accommodate all crops. Unlike re-evaluation and special review decisions, growers were not provided a phase-out period for the registered product. Furthermore, the PMRA moved to revoke existing MRLs for apple and peach to 0.01 ppm for lamda-cyhalothrin, which in turn can create unintended trade disruptions to growers who wish to deplete existing inventories of apples. 

As you can see, it will be a busy year for crop protection at FVGC. Many thanks to CPAG members (both past and present) for their time and dedication. 

Christina Turi is manager, plant health and crop protection, for Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada.