Feds throw money into Vineland Station's crop projects Thursday, July 31, 2014 by SUSAN MANN The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre’s work to study growing Asian and round Indian eggplant in greenhouses received a boost this week after the federal government announced funding of more than $1.1 million for its world crops work. The grant money will be used for research in four vegetables – okra, sweet potatoes plus two kinds of eggplant, Asian and round Indian. Centre CEO Jim Brandle says eggplant “is a crop that we already grow in the greenhouse.” But Indian and Asian eggplant are totally new varieties that aren’t necessarily adapted for greenhouse production “so we have to go through that whole process of building a production system.” MP Pierre Lemieux, parliamentary secretary to federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, and Niagara West-Glanbrook MP Dean Allison announced the funding for the centre’s research Wednesday during an open house. They also announced funding of more than $1.4 million for the centre to modernize its rose breeding program. Brandle says for sweet potatoes, the research will focus on breeding and improving shorter season varieties “that have more consistent sizing and are better for processing into things like chips and French fries.” The other crop work will include variety evaluation plus on-farm trials. The market for the four vegetable crops is “pretty strong” based on current consumption trends, he says. “Every year we get a quarter of a million new immigrants into the country and 80 per cent come from south Asia. Those particular vegetables fit into their food traditions quite nicely.” Ontario farmers are growing a few hundred acres of the four crops now. But there’s the potential need for a few thousand acres of those four crops to be grown, especially if a year-round supply of eggplant can be established. The funding for Vineland’s research comes from the federal industry-led Research and Development stream of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s AgriInnovation program. It’s a five-year fund with up to $698 million available and is part of Growing Forward 2, the national agricultural policy framework. BF Consumers bite back on high meat prices U.S. appeal court rejects injunction to block COOL
Twelve Ontario Agri-Businesses Receive Funding Support Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Bioenterprise Canada has announced the successful recipients of the second call for proposals under the Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative (OAFRI) Commercialization Stream. Twelve organizations across Ontario will receive support to bring innovative agri-food solutions to the... Read this article online
Early Career Research Award supports two Guelph research initiatives Tuesday, June 24, 2025 The was presented to two University of Guelph researchers at the recently held Livestock Research Innovation Corporation (LRIC) symposium. Dr. Kelsey Spence received $40,000 towards her work in on-farm biosecurity research, and Dr. Sam Workenhe was awarded $60,000 to further his... Read this article online
Rural internet speeds have improved, but compared to urban gap is wide Friday, June 20, 2025 Rural internet speeds have improved, but the gap with urban areas is still wide, says Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) - the national not-for-profit best known for managing the .CA domain. Regional differences also continue—New Brunswick shows faster speeds, while as... Read this article online
Ontario Bean Growers are having a day and you are invited Friday, June 20, 2025 The Ontario Bean Growers have announced it will be holding its annual on August 20, 2025. The day begins with research presentations at 1 pm. Details of the research presentations will be published as they become available. At 4 pm, Chris Gillard will lead attendees on a tour... Read this article online
Did you know your summer picnic watermelon might be from Ontario? Thursday, June 19, 2025 Watermelon, a fruit often linked to warmer U.S. states, is grown in southern Ontario during the summer months. In 2023, Ontario farmers produced 35,084 tonnes of watermelon, accounting for 96.7% of the total Canadian watermelon production. Sweet potatoes are another example. In... Read this article online