News Release Archive
AGRICULTURE/MARKETING--INDUSTRIAL PARTNERSHIPS-BLUEBERRY RESEARCH ----------------------------------------------------------------- A new partnership in blueberry research has been announced at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro. The pilot program brings industrial partners together who are interested in providing matching funds for research and development programs at the college. Together, the partners have successfully generated research funding in excess of a half a million dollars over three years. John Bragg, owner of Oxford Frozen Foods Ltd. Is providing industrial funding for Dr. Leonard Eaton to conduct long-term research on the impacts of fertilization and weed control on wild blueberry production. Additionally, a new research initiative has been launched with the support of Oxford Frozen Foods, the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Marketing to generate a $60,000 per year program. These funds will hire a post-doctoral fellow to be located in the department of biology, NSAC, as an industrial research professorship. This Ph.D graduate will be designated to develop and establish a new program in collaboration with other researchers in the field, including Dr. Eaton. The Nova Scotia Blueberry Institute for research will coordinate this. The net effect of these two initiatives is to create an annual cash expenditure of $120,000 per year for three years. Under the matching investment initiative program, the Kentville Research Centre of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has concurrently developed a series of collaborative blueberry research projects supported with both industry research dollars and matching Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada funds. This is in addition to the Kentville Research Centre's commitment to blueberry research. This industry/university/government partnership will generate up to $200,000 additional funds for blueberry research to be expended in Nova Scotia on this important food crop. It will also bring together top notch multi-disciplinary teams of researchers from across the province to help make the blueberry industry more competitive. -30- Contact: Dr. Ted Burnside 902-893-6030 trp Apr. 29, 1996 - 11:28 a.m.