Specialty crop growers in California could be set for larger, longer-lasting federal grants under new proposals outlined in the US this week.

Groups such as the California Apple Commission, which has previously been aided by three-year loans with a limit of US$300,000, could see that figure rise to US$500,000 over five years under the proposed regulations.

'I think it's a very good benefit to our industry,' Alexander Ott, executive director of the Fresno-based California Apple Commission, told the Merced Sun-Star.

Fellow past recipients of the funding have included The California Fig Advisory Board and the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, which received US$159,000 last year to assist with Mexican stonefruit regulations.

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