Welland, Ontario – On behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Parliamentary Secretary Neil Ellis announced federal funding of nearly $4 million to support four horticultural research projects at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (VRIC).
PS Ellis made the announcement before touring the facility, alongside Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Through the federal AgriScience Program, up to $1.8 million will be invested to support VRIC’s on-the-vine breeding program for greenhouse tomatoes, which is the first of its kind in Canada. The program focuses on developing high-yield varieties with improved flavour and production traits that are adapted to Canada’s climate.
VRIC will also receive up to $877,000 to help make Canadian roses more disease resistant and adaptive, so that they may reach more domestic and international markets. A further $931,000 will support the Centre’s work to discover and evaluate new biocontrol solutions to advance the research on pest management for the Canadian greenhouse sector. These projects are also supported through the AgriScience Program.
The fourth project announced by PS Ellis today will help VRIC lay the foundation to ramp up the conversion of horticultural waste into value-added ingredients in Canada. Up to $200,000 will be provided for the project through the Canadian Agricultural Strategic Priorities Program.
Today’s investments build on a March 18, 2021, announcement from the governments of Canada and Ontario of more than $330,000 to support VRIC research projects that will benefit Ontario’s greenhouse sector, which will increase capacity and productivity in the horticultural sector.
Source : Government of Canada