Articles from:June 2019

• Brock’s CCOVI partners with industry to produce certified clean grapevines

  Wednesday, June 19, 2019 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 19 June 2019 – R00109

  Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) has partnered with the grape and wine industry to produce certified, clean grapevines.

  The Government of Canada recently committed $2.3 million in funding over the next three years to support the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network (CGCN) as it develops certified vines for grape growers. As part of the project, CCOVI will be the national testing provider.

  “This funding will give nurseries a jump start to providing domestically certified clean plant material to the grower community across Canada and allow the industry to be less reliant on imported material,” said CCOVI Director Debbie Inglis. “Nurseries will have the opportunity for lower-cost virus testing by cost sharing with the CGCN. We’re looking forward to working closely with the industry to make sure growers are starting out with clean plants to assist the long-term viability of the Canadian grape and wine sectors.”

  CCOVI will catalogue and assess vines used for plant propagation from nurseries and grape growers across Canada. This will ensure that only vines testing negative for targeted viruses are used to generate new plants receiving the CGCN certification, which will help keep Canada’s vineyards virus-free.

  “Canada’s vineyards have become an important part of our national economy,” said Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti as he announced the government’s commitment to the project. “With this funding, the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network will help ensure that growers have access to high-quality, locally-sourced grapevine stock to keep their fields healthy and prosperous.”

  CGCN Vice Chair and grape grower Bill Schenck said announcement is the next step in the creation of a clean plant network for grapevines in Canada.

  “We have been working closely with researchers at CCOVI and this funding will expand what we can do as far as testing our grapevines,” he said. “This will allow us to work more closely with nurseries as we try to clean up vines in the ground and help growers plant healthy vineyards.”

  The CGCN is also leading national research initiatives for grape and wine, receiving funding through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and industry partners of more than $11 million last year to establish the Canadian Grape and Wine Science Cluster. The cluster is a collaborative project which includes researchers at Brock and other universities across the country as well as AAFC scientists, grape growers and industry partners in Ontario, B.C., Quebec and Nova Scotia.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Britt Dixon, Communications Officer, Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, Brock University [email protected], 905-688-5550 x4471

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected], 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock research urges Niagara agribusiness to collaborate with other sectors

  Tuesday, June 18, 2019 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 18 June 2019 – R00108

  When asked what Niagara is known for beyond the famous Falls, many people say vineyards,  fruit trees, wineries and greenhouses that grow flowers and vegetables year-round.

  But that thriving agribusiness sector — which runs from basic operations to high-end commercial products — could be even stronger if there was closer co-operation with sectors such as manufacturing, tourism, government and institutions conducting research.

  This is one of the findings of “Niagara’s Agribusiness Sector: Towards a More Resilient Innovation Cluster,” the latest policy brief from Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) in collaboration with the Niagara Region’s Economic Development division.

  “Niagara’s agribusiness sector should link more closely to the manufacturing and tourism sectors so that the region’s economy can better adapt to change,” says NCO Director and policy brief author Charles Conteh, who presented the brief on Tuesday, June 18 at the Meridian Community Centre in Pelham. “Research and innovation are among the tools that could increase Niagara’s resiliency in this way.”

  Niagara agribusiness categories that generate the most jobs are farming as well as beverage and food manufacturing.

  Valerie Kuhns, the Niagara Region’s Acting Director of Strategic Economic Initiatives, Economic Development, called agribusiness “a critical component to Niagara’s economy, contributing more than $1.4 billion to regional GDP.”

  “We continue to see new investment and economic opportunity across many agribusiness industries,” she said, “however, there are challenges in the sector that we must better understand.”

  One concerning trend is the “modest to weak showing” of jobs in areas such as agricultural machinery manufacturing and equipment merchant wholesalers.

  The policy brief identifies three looming challenges in the sector’s pursuit of greater resilience and adaptability. One is “lock-in syndrome,” being stuck in a cultural rut with few fresh ideas and resistance to change. As a remedy, the authors suggest that agribusiness operators “build conduits of research and innovation” with manufacturing, tourism and other sectors, which would add value to all stages of agribusiness from farming and harvesting to the creation of products and processes.

  Another challenge is “organizational thinness,” or the lack of platforms or networks to create broader development through innovation and adaptation.

  The brief lists several institutions — including Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, Niagara College’s Agriculture and Environment Innovation Centre and Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, among others — that could form an “innovation infrastructure support system.”

  “This means building an infrastructure of knowledge generation and mobilization that is well aligned with the needs of not only particular industries but also the sector as a whole across the value chain of activities,” says the brief.

  A third challenge is “internal fragmentation,” or lack of a shared understanding of  agribusiness among farmers, entrepreneurs, workers, industry associations and educational institutions.

  The brief says such a common understanding is “a prerequisite for strategic information flows between research centres and industry groups and across the industries that make up a sector’s value chain.”

  Niagara’s agribusiness sector covers more than 215,000 acres of farmland and around 22 million square feet of greenhouse area. There are more than 1,800 farms, about 200 greenhouses, nearly 100 wineries and more than 112 food processing companies, says the brief.

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected], 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases