New P.E.I. living lab gets $4.5 million to research sustainable farming methods
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ST. PETERS BAY, P.E.I. — The federal authorities is injecting as much as $4.5 million over 5 years into a brand new P.E.I. residing lab geared toward serving to the agricultural sector provide you with methods to scale back greenhouse fuel emissions.
Led by the East Prince Agri-Atmosphere Affiliation (EPAA), the lab goals to handle agricultural local weather change by means of the co-development, testing and analysis of latest farm administration practices within the province.
That features the addition of kelp in cattle diets, rotational grazing, hedgerows and edge-of-field wetlands to assist retailer carbon and scale back greenhouse fuel emissions on Island farms.
Lawrence MacAulay, the federal agriculture minister and Cardigan MP, mentioned the EPAA will proceed to work with producers and scientists to contribute to Canada’s carbon discount targets.
“It takes a collaborative effort to adapt to a altering local weather and defend this province’s watershed,” mentioned MacAulay.
Successor to earlier program
The brand new lab builds on the residing labs program, which ran in P.E.I., Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario from 2019 till March 2023.
This system is the newest in a collection, including to earlier labs launched in Quebec and Ontario this yr and 9 others in 2022. With the announcement, each Canadian province is about to have at the very least one residing lab.
Andrea McKenna, govt director for the East Prince Agri-Atmosphere Affiliation, mentioned the preliminary section modified the analysis mannequin for adopting farm administration practices.
“New partnerships flourished between academia, business and authorities, the place Island farms grew to become the analysis labs, and information switch was extensively shared with and between farmers,” mentioned McKenna.
“As we sit up for the long run, we’re full of anticipation and pleasure for the following section.”
