Funding to Support Research and Innovation in Ontario’s Vegetable Farming Sector

King, Ontario – The governments of Canada and Ontario are supporting agri-food innovation in the vegetable farming sector with an investment of $150,000 to drive new research at the Ontario Crops Research Centre – Bradford.

Details of today’s announcement were provided by Caroline Mulroney, MPP for York-Simcoe, and Ontario’s Minister for Transportation and for Francophone Affairs, and Helena Jaczek, Member of Parliament for Markham—Stouffville.

Through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership), funding will support the installation of specialized lighting and climate control equipment for the greenhouse which is part of the research centre. A new weather station that automates the greenhouse’s climate control system was also installed as part of the investment. This new automated system will help create optimal growing conditions for greenhouse-started crops before they are transplanted to the field at the beginning of the outdoor growing season.

This infrastructure investment will increase research capabilities that will lead to more sustainable vegetable farming practices, helping farmers be more productive and competitive.

These greenhouse upgrades will improve crop research capabilities at the Ontario Crops Research Centre in Bradford and benefit Ontario’s agricultural sector by:

Demonstrating how lighting, ventilation and climate controls in greenhouse-started vegetable growing can improve production rates and achieve efficiencies to reduce cost of production in vegetable farming in muck soils;
Contributing to knowledge of how to better manage pests that can damage high value vegetable crops; and
Increasing the sector’s understanding of how real-time weather data can be incorporated into crop production and modern greenhouse building controls to advance vegetable production transplants to the field.
This investment follows other recent efforts to enhance research in the sector such as $6.5 million in funding for 40 research projects through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance and a $1.8 million intake, under the Partnership, to support project applications through the Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative. It also builds on other measures to support the agricultural sector and provincial economic recovery during COVID-19 such as a $7.5 million intake under the Partnership for projects to enhance operations and competitiveness on Ontario farms.

Since June 2018, both the federal and provincial governments have committed cost-share support to more than 5,000 projects through the Partnership, to help eligible Ontario farmers, food processors, agri-food businesses and sector organizations innovate and grow.