SURREY – New Democrat MLA Mike Starchuk says that new funding for innovative agriculture projects will help local companies fight climate change and boost the province’s food security and food economy.

Ten new agritech projects will receive $1 million in new joint provincial and federal funding to develop locally-informed solutions to fight climate change, address labour shortages, increase profitability, and increase adoption of regenerative agriculture practices. This funding is through the Canada-British Columbia Agri-Innovation Program.

“The agriculture sector in our region improves food security while creating jobs,” says Mike Starchuk, MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale. “As people face the impacts of climate change, now is the time to invest in agriculture projects that will expand the sector while addressing arising challenges.”

E.S. Cropconsult Limited in Surrey is receiving $6,374 in funding to test organic-approved herbicides as potato top-kill methods through field applications, comparing efficacy and cost with other organic-approved methods. Heppell’s Potato Corp. is receiving $179,762 to implement large fruit and vegetable automated sorting technology to increase production capacity, while testing the efficacy of calibrating the sorting technology for multiple species/varietals at once.

This investment recognizes the importance of food security for people in B.C. and particularly those working in the agricultural sector. It builds on our investments across B.C. in regional Food Hubs, and recent funding from the 2021 Flood Recovery Program for Food Security.

Learn More: https://news.gov.bc.ca/27314