OLYMPIA — Two local agriculture agencies — the Washington Apple Commission and the Washington State Horticultural Association — recently received almost $400,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grants.

The state received $2.6 million through the federal program. The Washington State Department of Agriculture chose 14 projects.

The Washington Apple Commission received approximately $193,000. The grant money will be used to educate retailers in six countries about storage and merchandising of perishable products, especially Washington apples, said Rebecca Baerveldt, export manager at the Washington Apple Commission.

“Growers take a lot of care in growing a high-quality apple and a lot of care is put into the transport of it. It’s put into a container and shipped overseas and that’s where we encounter problems,” Baerveldt said.

Baerveldt said the commission received the full grant amount they requested in July. The commission has been conducting seminars about how to handle and store perishables over the last 10 years, she said. Baerveldt said the program was implemented in Latin America over the last 10 years with success and is still being conducted on a more limited scale.

Last year the program was implemented in China and India with funds from smaller grants. “According to the retail chains, shrinkage/wastage has been reduced by 5 percent and the shelf space for Washington apple has increased by 10 percent,” wrote Philander Fan, a commission representative in China and Hong Kong in an e-mail to Baerveldt.

“About 80 to 85 percent (of participants) say they will be making changes in how they merchandise and market apples,” says Baerveldt of the program’s success.

The retail education program will continue in other areas of China and India, as well as Mexico, Russia and Thailand.

Washington State Horticultural Association plans to use its $195,000 in grant money to educate growers through Growers Response to Agricultural Safe and Sustainable Practices (GRAS2P), an audit-readiness and sustainability program.

The program is focused on preparing growers for third-party audits and encouraging them to pursue safe and sustainable practices, said Susan Pheasant, GRAS2P program director at the state horticultural association. Already, warehouses have to conduct food-safety audits for domestic and export markets, as well as different retailers such as Walmart and Costco. The audit-readiness program is a proactive approach to audits anticipated at the grower level.

The program is three-pronged, with education focusing on crop protection, soil fertility and water management, and domestic and export audit components.

The official unveiling of the program will take place during the Washington State Horticultural Association Annual Meeting and Northwest Horticultural Exposition at the Wenatchee Convention Center, Dec. 7-9. After the program is introduced, a series of three half-day workshops will be offered. More workshops will be offered for growers in 2010.

Rochelle Feil Adamowsky: 664-7153

feil@wenatcheeworld.com