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FRESNO — With a grape glut statewide and raisins dying on the vine in the San Joaquin Valley, growers and politicians Tuesday asked the federal government for more help. 

U.S. Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, called a summit to find solutions before the problem crushes the industry. 

Valley growers, who provide about 60 percent of California’s wine grapes and 90 percent of the nation’s raisins, have suffered from low prices in the past few years due to overproduction. 

The USDA anticipates that wine grape growers will harvest 3.3 million tons this year for wine, an 8 percent increase from last year. 

Raisin growers are expected to harvest 400,000 tons of raisins this year, up 7.2 percent over the same period. 

The impact has been troubling for an industry rooted for generations in the arid valley that is home to the “Raisin Capital of the World.” It has also been a leader in growing table and wine grapes. 

During the summer, the raisin industry paid some farmers to prune their crop or yank their vines. Other growers let their crop die on the vine. 

Selma raisin grower Mike O’Brian had to take a second job with a crop insurance company to make ends meet. 

“It may not sustain the farm but it may sustain my monthly expenses,” O’Brian said. 

“This will be the third year in a row that we’ve lost money in every acre we farm.” 

Radanovich recommended that a panel of USDA officials and grape industry representatives work together to find ways to aid growers who do not receive subsidies. 

“Part of it is to determine what existing programs will help stabilize this industry,” said Radanovich, a vintner who owns 10 acres in Mariposa. 

O’Brian said one way to help grape farmers is make it easier to export. He said import tariffs in America are about one-tenth of what they are overseas. 

The San Joaquin Valley, which grows 40 percent of the world’s raisins, has seen competition from Australia, Chile, Greece, Iran, South Africa and Turkey, where labor costs are lower, industry officials said. 

While the summit focused on the valley, it could have an impact statewide because grapes are the leading agricultural product in the nation’s leading farm state. 

Wine grape growers have experienced the same pains of excess after a boom in the 1990s has begun to mellow. Production is growing faster than demand as vineyards planted by farmers trying to capitalize on California’s $33 billion wine industry are now maturing. 

Radanovich hopes the USDA will buy more raisins for foreign aid, school lunch programs and a federal nutrition program for mothers and their children. He also wants the USDA to pay grape farmers to pull out vineyards next year if a surplus is expected. 

Earlier this month, the USDA announced plans to buy up to $56.8 million of nuts and dried fruits, including raisins. It is also considering buying grape juice made from Thompson grapes. 

California raisin growers also want a five-year moratorium on replanting vines by growers who were paid to remove them. 

That proposal is under review by USDA.