Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament for Niagara Centre, and Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catherine's, on behalf of the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced an investment of up to $476,908 for the Ontario Tender Fruit Growers and Fresh Grape Growers to improve fruit quality and availability of tender fruit and fresh grape varieties for consumers.
The research project aims to improve Canadian tender fruits such as apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, and pears, for example by extending the growing season and storability. The project will also study black knot disease in plums and develop new tender fruit and fresh grape varieties. The technical results of the research will be shared with the Canadian tree fruit and fresh grape sectors.
Vance Badawey, a member of parliament for the Niagara Center, comments: "Tender fruit growers represent a very important part of Canada's agricultural industry. It is exciting to see growers work together with researchers at the University of Guelph and Vineland Research and Innovation Centre to use scientific research to identify new varieties best suited to be grown locally. This investment will benefit tender fruit growers as they look to maximize their yields."
This initiative is funded through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership's AgriScience Program, which aims to accelerate the pace of innovation by providing funding and support for pre-commercial science activities and cutting-edge research that benefits the agriculture and agri-food sector and Canadians
Phil Tregunno, chair of the Ontario Tender Fruit Growers states: "This collaboration is a long-term commitment from growers, researchers at University of Guelph and Vineland Research and Innovation Centre to bring new varieties of locally grown fruit to consumers across Canada. These partnerships have resulted in new growth opportunities that not only provide benefit for family farms, but also all of our partners, including marketers, retailers and nurseries. We extend our appreciation to Agriculture and Agri -Food Canada for this funding.”
For more information:
Justine Lesage
Tel: +1 613 773 7972
Email: Justine.lesage@canada.ca