Buzzworthy Funding Program Helps Blueberry Growers ‘Bee’ Successful

Jun 21, 2022

The government is investing an additional $100,000 in the Blueberry Pollination Expansion Program to support blueberry growers who keep bees to pollinate their crops.

“Beekeepers’ pollination services are essential to the production of blueberries and other crops in Nova Scotia. To grow more blueberries, we need more bees to pollinate the plants – it’s that simple,” said Greg Morrow, Minister of Agriculture. “These additional funds help address a need and encourage growers to invest in keeping more hives.”

Blueberry growers may apply for funding to expand the number of hives they keep or purchase equipment to improve efficiency in their bee operations.

The program is one of 14 Canadian Agricultural Partnership programs now accepting applications for 2022. The partnership is a five-year federal-provincial-territorial cost-shared initiative that supports farmers and agri-businesses. In Nova Scotia, the annual investment is $7.4 million.

Source : Novascotia.ca

Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.