Government of Canada supports the development of clean technologies in British Columbia
by CM staff
With this up to nearly $1.6-million investment under the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program, farmers will be able to increase their competitiveness and reduce their carbon footprints.
BURNABY — Federal funding will support four projects related to developing and adopting clean technology by agri-businesses in British Columbia.
With this up to nearly $1.6-million investment under the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program, farmers will be able to increase their competitiveness and reduce their carbon footprints while allowing innovators to develop new technologies with a positive environmental impact.
“Our goal is to help the Canadian agricultural sector innovate and adopt clean technologies,” said Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “This new Agricultural Clean Technology Program investment will help to reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions and leverage technology to be more resilient to climate change.”
Minister Bibeau visited Lucent BioSciences Inc.’s laboratory at Simon Fraser University to see how the company is developing sustainable solutions for crop fertilization. Lucent Bio is receiving up to $1,333,761 under the ACT – Research and Innovation Stream to develop natural-based, nonpolluting micronutrients suitable for seed coating. This solution aims to help improve crop yields and will lead to more efficient use of fertilizer by reducing runoff of the main ingredients in most fertilizers, known as NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium).
In addition to the funding to Lucent Bio, projects announced today under the ACT – Adoption
Stream include:
- up to $70,457 for B JACK Farms in Abbotsford to install a solar system and electric-powered farm equipment to reduce reliance on the electrical grid and gasoline fuel in the egg production process;
- up to $108,876 for Blueberry Junction in Abbotsford to install a solar system to reduce electrical grid consumption for their blueberry operation; and
- up to $61,247 for Fresh Valley Farms in Armstrong to install a solar system and an electrical pivot irrigation system on their organic farm to reduce reliance on the electrical grid and gasoline fuel usage.
“We’re honoured to receive support from the Agricultural Clean Technology Program, which will advance our research and development efforts in sustainable crop nutrition solutions,” said Michael Riedijk, CEO, Lucent BioSciences Inc. “The natural and climate-positive seed coating that we are developing with this grant has the potential to improve crop yields while reducing the environmental impact that current synthetic polymer coatings have. At Lucent BioSciences, we’re fully committed to building a more sustainable agricultural sector through innovation.”
