Canadian Government Recognizes Floriculture Industry’s Impact With Marketing And Research Grant

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Canada’s federal government announced a $382,000 investment to the floriculture industry for cultivating new customers in foreign markets, such as the U.S., and researching new biological controls methods on Oct. 11, 2012, NiagraThisWeek.com reports.

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The $137,000 allotted for the marketing program will go directly to Flowers Canada Growers, which will help Canadian producers increase sales internationally by developing existing and new markets in the U.S. and abroad. Some of the activities that will be used to boost sales in foreign markets involve encouraging U.S. buyers to utilize Canadian online auction systems and conducting more consumer and market research studies.

Funding Marketing And Research

Another $245,000 will be dedicated to biocontrols research, $100,000 of which will specifically fund research to find biological controls methods to combat leafminer specifically. Leafminers, which are small flies that lay eggs into crops like chrysanthemum and gerbera and “mine” the upper and lower surfaces of leaves once hatched, are a problem in Canada. There are few available pesticides for leafminer, and the pest seems to be resistant to the ones on the market.

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The remaining $145,000 will fund research into other biological control methods that will benefit the industry’s flower sector through the Agricultural Innovation Program. Investments in marketing and research are a part of the Growing Forward 2 policy framework, a five-year agreement that seeks to spend $3 billion on strategic projects focused on innovation, market development and competitiveness. Growing Forward 2 also works to develop Business Risk Management programs that protect farmers from “severe market volatility and disasters.”

Floriculture Supports The Economy

Niagara West-Glanbrook Member of Parliament Dean Allison, who made the announcement on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, commented on the floriculture industry’s impact on the overall economy.

“It’s a very quiet industry that does amazing things,” Allison says, calling it a “strong economic driver.”

“They do over $1.5 billion in farm gate sales. They employ more than 20,000 Canadians, and they generate over $160 million in exports,” he says. “These are very important numbers — 20,000 employees and over $160 million in exports. That’s why we’re proud to help our growers capture new markets with our investments through the AgriMarketing program, which is supporting a number of great initiatives.”

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