The federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food recently visited Alberta on a tour in support of innovation and technological adoption amongst the region’s farming and food sectors.
Building on Canada’s $3.2-billion National Food Security Strategy, minister Heath MacDonald unveiled $900,000 in funding for Calgary’s SmartGRO Bioengineering under the Agricultural Clean Technology Program’s Research and Innovation Stream.
Part of the National Food Security Strategy includes an investment of $750 million to expand year-round, energy-efficient production of fruits and vegetables through vertical farms and enclosed growing spaces.
In this vein, SmartGRO is developing a novel system that utilizes a combination of fast-pulsing LED lights, plant sensors, and artificial intelligence in order to collect information about the plants and then act on that data to optimize growth and health.
Controlled tests showed SmartGRO plants produced the same harvest weight regular ones while using up to 80% less electricity.
“With support from the ACT – Research and Innovation Stream, SmartGRO can develop new technology that has the potential to help Canadian farmers grow more food while using less electricity,” stated MacDonald. “By making indoor agriculture more efficient and sustainable, this innovation can help reduce costs and environmental impacts, while strengthening year-round food production across Canada.”
The support “will help SmartGRO validate at commercial scale a patent-pending, Canadian-developed lighting and intelligent control platform designed to help growers produce more food, year-round, using dramatically less electricity,” according to Jared Wolfe, cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of SmartGRO.
The tech-forward Hydragreens Produce, also out of Calgary, is partnering with SmartGRO on the project and investing its own capital as well.
“We’re excited to partner with SmartGRO to test this advanced technology under real-world commercial growing conditions,” remarked company president Marc Schulz.
“Improving energy efficiency is essential to the future of indoor agriculture, and innovations like this can help growers reduce costs, increase productivity, and make year-round food production in Canada more sustainable,” he noted. “We’re proud to support its development.”
SmartGRO is also collaborating with the University of Windsor, Lambton College, H&A Mastronardi Farms, and Freeman Herbs to help validate its efficient lighting technology.
The Agricultural Clean Technology Program provides farmers and agri-businesses funding to develop and adopt clean technologies.
To date, 535 projects have been announced under the ACT Program, totalling up to more than $300M across Canada.