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.