ReachOut Feature: Better Veggies for Canadian Organic Farmers
CSFS researchers Dr. Alexandra Lyon and Dr. Hannah Wittman were featured in the latest issue of the Land and Food Systems Faculty Journal, ReachOut, for their latest Canada-wide research venture, the Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement (CANOVI) project.
The CANOVI project aims to help organic vegetable growers find plant varieties better suited to Canadian climates and environments. The project focuses primarily on participatory plant breeding of peppers and carrots – two crops identified as top priorities for organic vegetable growers in a survey the CANOVI team conducted last year.
Funding for the five-year research project comes from the Organic Science Cluster 3, supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, a national group, has joined the project as an industry partner. Lyon and CANOVI’s collaborators are in the early stages of research, but are hopeful that their findings will improve things for Canadian organic farmers – “one carrot and pepper at a time.”