B.C. fruit growers say they are in trouble due to falling wholesale prices and are looking to Ottawa for help. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Cash-strapped fruit farmers in the B.C. Interior need an emergency payment from the government to help them weather an acute financial crisis, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz heard Friday in Kelowna.

Payments for apple and cherry crops have dropped significantly in the past two years, and many farmers are having trouble making ends meet, Ritz was told.

'We'll do everything we can to see if we can trigger some cash flow'—Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz

"Our industry has suffered greatly in the past two years ... prices are disastrous," Penny Gambell, a Lake Country grower, told Ritz at the annual convention of the B.C. Fruit Growers Association.

"We need a special payment this year."

Ritz was sympathetic to the growers' plight, but said direct subsidies to growers to offset losses are "problematic" since they usually run counter to trade agreements.

However, he promised to "tweak and twist" existing agricultural support programs that benefit farmers in lean years.

"We'll do everything we can to see if we can trigger some cash flow," Ritz said.

Other growers called for Ottawa to revive a program that gives farmers financial assistance to re-plant older apple varieties with newer, more lucrative ones.

Many orchards not replanted

About 40 per cent of orchards have not been replanted, Similkameen grower Rob Dawson estimated, and he said these farms are often bought by newcomers to the fruit-growing business who don't appreciate the hardships they entail.

Lake Country grower Don Claridge called on the federal government to do a better job of encouraging Canadians to buy Canadian produce, noting the prevalence of U.S. and foreign products on supermarket shelves.

At the convention, Ritz announced a federal grant of $2.3 million to the Okanagan Plant Improvement Corporation (PICO) to develop and commercialize new apple and sweet-cherry varieties.

"With this project, PICO enters a new phase that will benefit Canadian growers and consumers alike by enabling us to better manage the development, selection, testing, evaluation and uptake of new, high-quality apple and cherry varieties," said John Kinsmill, its chief executive officer.

The convention continues Saturday in Kelowna. The organization has about 850 members.