KELOWNA – Online applications are now available for B.C. government funding to help tree fruit growers replant their orchards with high-value, high-quality fruit varieties enjoyed by consumers locally and around the world.

The funding is part of the B.C. government's $8.4-million seven-year tree fruit replant program announced by Premier Christy Clark and Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick in November 2014. The program will result in an estimated 1,500 acres of orchards being replanted by 2021, and about 2,600 jobs each year for the Okanagan. Application packages are available.

The new program builds on the recent success of growers who replanted lower-value orchards with high-demand and high-quality varieties like Ambrosia apples and late-season cherries.

B.C. growers produced Canada's second largest tree fruit crop in 2013, including more than 103,000 tonnes of apples, sweet cherries, peaches, pears, plums/prunes, nectarines and apricots. The total represents about one-fourth of the total Canadian production, and generated almost $103 million in farm cash receipts.