News Technology
GOC invests in B.C. clean tech development and adoption

On March 15, Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and agri-food, announced federal support for four new projects related to developing and adopting clean technology by agri-businesses in British Columbia.

With this up to $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.

“Here in British Columbia, we continue to work closely with agri-businesses to implement clean technology into farming practices,” said Terry Beech, parliamentary secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and minister of finance and MP for Burnaby North–Seymour, in a statement. “Through investments in local projects, such as Lucent Bio’s solution that aims to help improve crop yields and utilize fertilizer more efficiently, we continue to enable the ultimate adoption of practices that will accelerate emission reductions in the agricultural sector.”

Bibeau made the announcement while visiting 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.

With these new investments, the ACT Program has supported 11 projects in British Columbia, representing a total of up to nearly $4.9 million.

“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 Lucent Bio CEO Michael Riedijk in a statement. “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.”