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THIS PUNJABI HAS EARNED NAME AS BLUEBERRY GROWER IN CANADA

admin August 10, 2020

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as Binning one of the many Punjabis settled in North American nation Canada has earned name in country as best quality blueberry grower, so much so that many natives wants to learn from him. Jas who migrated to British Columbia in 1982 alongwith his two brother and parents started growing berries in 1987.

“I joined school on arriving in Canada and after dabbling in some jobs I got into growing berries. Since then there has been no looking back,” elated Binning told cropsfarming.com, who was 18 years old when he arrived in Canada.

He now is a complete Canadian, though he says his family has not abandoned the Punjabi traditions, culture and ethos. “It’s a family business and we all brothers are one unified group. We are more Punjabis than what we were when we lived there,” said Jas a native of Jalandhar gets emotional on getting a call from Punjab, where he was born and lived his teenage.

He grows berries in 150 acre farm and like 95 percent of who Punjabis who comprise berry growers in the British Columbia province of Canada, he feels ecstatic. Climatic conditions are best suited for growing blueberries.

“The annual turnover from our blue berry farm is $2.5 million but the prices keeps varying from season to season, there are challenges but over all we are feel contended as berry growers,” Jas who also grows potatoes and have limber mills set. Jas Binning is a tremendous help to the Punjabi who arrive fresh in Canada. He gives them the jobs and also moral support in addition. Every season he employs atleast 250 worker for berry picking.

Though there are machines available to do cherry picking and Jas Binning has two machines which comes at a cost 0.5 million but according to him, handpicked cheery fetches better rates in the Canadian market. Blueberries are a delicate fruit, harvested with great care to ensure maximum quality, the efforts are made that they are in top condition when they reach consumers.

Binning said blueberry is a yearlong crop and July-August are harvesting months. Due to ongoing lock down owing of corona virus, Binning is facing labour scarcity at his farm due to which he could only employ 12 people and is depending on mechanized harvesting.

According to Canadian government website agr.gc.ca, blueberries are grown in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic province and workers hand-pick the sweetest fruits for the table market, while mechanical pickers scoop up the berries destined for freezing and processing….Click For Website

Canada is the world’s second-largest producer and exporter of these delectable berries, after the United States, and they are a highly valuable crop.

These small blue globes have always been prized, and for centuries were a special favourite among Canada’s First Nations. Long before the Europeans arrived, they had learned how to smoke the wild fruit for winter use, mix it with honey and cornmeal to make blueberry pudding, and make blueberry syrup to cure coughs.

Nowadays, Canada’s blueberries are commercially grown in both wild and cultivated varieties, making them unique—no other Canadian fruit shares this distinction.