Media Contacts

Robert Boelens

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Agriculture and Food
250 356-1674
250 882-2485 (mobile)

Jillian Glover

Communications Manager
PacifiCan
jillian.glover@pacifican.gc.ca

Braden McMillan

Director, Media Relations and Public Affairs
Simon Fraser University
bradenm@sfu.ca
236 880-3459

Backgrounders

Details on agritech projects receiving support

The four projects represent a total investment of $540,000, including $122,500 in support from the B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation. 

The goal of these projects is to help companies generate commercially viable products that meet the needs of the agricultural sector, while reducing the impacts on the environment and climate.

  • Aeroroot Systems is developing quality standards for basil cultivation using vertical farming. Aeroroot designs vertically automated aeroponics growing equipment called AeroWalls, allowing farmers to grow crops anywhere with no soil and 90% less water. Cultivation trials using the Aerowall equipment will be conducted inside a greenhouse at Kwantlen Polytechnic University to develop best management practices. The project represents as much as $34,000 in investment.
  • Agrotek Industries, an Indigenous-owned fertilizer and biostimulant manufacturing company, will test the effects of an innovative and organic soil amendment on blueberry plants and grapevines grown in the Okanagan through its $186,000 project. The company also wants to test its products on greenhouse crops. Agrotek products use naturally sourced ingredients extracted from Canadian mines. Agrotek is partnering on the project with the Westbank First Nation Indian Band, IAS Labs, Wapaw Bay Inc. and Simon Fraser University.
  • Bakerview EcoDairy in Abbotsford experiments with new technologies and innovations in sustainable agriculture, including rice cultivation. The company is using hydroponic farming systems to enhance rice-growing capacity on the Lower Mainland and is partnering with Granville Island’s Artisan Sakemaker to make sake from rice grown on the farm. The company’s project represents a $53,000 investment to help develop a sustainable method to address weed control, which is a major challenge in rice production.
  • Lucent BioSciences accelerates sustainable agriculture by delivering crop nutrition that improves yield and soil health while sequestering carbon. Lucent is looking to develop a new fertilizer called Soileos copper as an important essential plant micronutrient. Copper-deficient soils cause significant yield loss and the company’s $267,000 project will assess copper application on various crops cultivated in a controlled environment. Lucent is partnering with SFU on the project.
  • The criteria for projects to be accepted for funding by the B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation include:
    • The company has at least four, but fewer than 100 employees.
    • The company must be a private corporation, incorporated and headquartered in B.C.
    • The company must have been in operation for at least two years with a clear plan for business scale-up.
    • The project must be related to agriculture, agri-technology and agri-foods and have the potential to be commercialized within 24 months.