Features Production Research
B.C. Innovation Council provides awards

September 22, 2009 By Marg Land

September 22, 2009,
Vancouver, BC – The B.C. Innovation Council (BCIC) recently announced the
recipients of the BCIC Commercialization of Agricultural Technology (CAT)
Competition.

The recipients were
awarded $10,000 each to put towards developing business plans for the next
round of competition. Out of 60 applicants to this competition, 22 companies
were successful in moving forward to the proof of concept stage.

The winning companies are
involved in a diverse range of advanced science and technology innovations in
the agriculture, food and bioproducts sectors. Top applicants will be required
to make a presentation to a panel of expert judges for a chance to win a
portion of the $600,000 proof of concept money.

Several companies involved
in horticulture have advanced to the next round of the competition. These
include:
AgriForest Biotech Ltd.'s
main objective is to establish a photoautrotrophic micro-propagation facility
with optimized environmental and in-vitro conditions for the large-scale
production of several new commercially important plant varieties for the
agriculture and horticulture industries. The commercial application of this
technology can produce hundred of thousand of clones of new plant varieties within
a year at a significantly lower cost than conventional tissue culture
micro-propagation.
EnWave Corporation's
signature Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) microwave technology has been
incorporated into nutraREVTM, which is designed for use in the food industry to
replace freeze drying for the dehydration of fruits, vegetables, herbs,
seafood, meats and low-fat snack foods. This technology dehydrates foods more
quickly and less expensively than conventional methods of dehydration. EnWave
intends to build a new version of this technology which suites the production
requirements of small and medium sized food processing companies.
Fresh Concept Canada Ltd.
would like to apply technological advances in controlled atmosphere storage
containers to ocean freight transportation of B.C. blueberries. By storing and
transporting fruit crops under different atmospheric and temperature regimes,
the shelf life and time to market can be extended with minimal adverse effects
on taste or marketability. The ability to extend shelf life and to transport
crops during this period opens new market opportunities for B.C. growers.
Innovative Food Systems
intends to provide a complete novel system for the sanitation, preservation,
and maintenance of food products that will be ripe, ready-to-eat, and in a food
safe configuration. The sanitation technologies will be synergistic to the
developing modified atmosphere box and lid technologies recently patented. The
production processes of the greenhouse, orchard and field crop industries will
be enhanced to provide sanitized fresh produce.
L.W. Truscott Farms
intends to utilize culled fruit waste and other natural healthy ingredients to
create food products that are a source of anthocyanins and anti-oxidants as
well as other market value-added products. Twenty per cent of their own crop is
currently being thrown away as culls and useable fruit. The utilization of
culled fruit would reduce waste, create jobs in Creston, B.C., and provide
financial stability.
Mountain View Wasabi Inc.
has developed a method of using plant tissue culture technology to produce
large numbers of disease-free wasabi plants in a short amount of time. Their
objective is to commercialize wasabi plants to growers so they can establish
their field or greenhouse productions by supplying year-round disease-free
transplants that do not require heavy pesticides applications to compromise
environmental sustainability.
Paramount Agri-support
intends to convert biomass into charcoal (biochar) by burning it under oxygen
free conditions to incorporate into a growth medium where it will improve water
and nutrient retention, and promote the growth of beneficial soil microflora.
They intend to use biochar and various microbes to design a series of novel
products that will be targeted towards greenhouse growers or residential
markets that service turf and home gardens.
Researchers at the
University of British Columbia – Okanagan will be introducing new
drought-tolerant rootstock genotypes to the wine industry and providing a novel
molecular-level portable kit for early drought stress detection. With these
innovations both water use efficiency and irrigation management practices will
be improved with respect to both the timing and quantity of water used for
grapevine berry production for wine making in British Columbia.
West Coast Aquaponics’
technology exploits the symbiotic relationship between fish and plants in a
closed system to produce a high value protein, and high quality vegetables or
herbs close to or within urban areas. The system will consume less water than
traditional aquaculture systems and methods of growing vegetables or herbs in
soil, and will also be pesticide, hormone and chemical free.