Canada and Manitoba governments invest in vegetable research to improve yields and grow new crops in Manitoba

The Canada and Manitoba governments have invested more than $210,000 in a new vegetable research site near Winkler, Manitoba. The research will focus on improving yields, developing new varieties and creating opportunities for potato, sweet potato and carrot growers, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced today.

Funding will support research focused on:

• nutrient and pest management for potatoes;
• new varieties of sweet potato that are better suited for Manitoba’s shorter growing season; and
• variety evaluation and crop management techniques to improve quality and yield for carrots.

The research site will be operated by Peak of the Market, a grower-owned cooperative responsible for selling Manitoba’s fresh market potatoes and other vegetables. The company will contribute more than $477,000 toward this three-year research project.

Canadians are eating more sweet potatoes and demand has increased by 83 per cent over the last 10 years. Most are currently imported from the United States. Local growers are currently unable to meet the increased demand as available varieties are not suited to Manitoba’s shorter growing season.

Manitoba farmers grow more than 9,000 acres of fresh market potatoes and 600 acres of carrots for Peak of the Market every year. The company and its growers employ more than 1,000 people in Manitoba.

The federal and provincial governments are investing $176 million in cost-shared programming in Manitoba under Growing Forward 2, a five-year, federal-provincial-territorial policy framework to advance the agriculture industry, helping producers and processors become more innovative and competitive in world markets.