Bedeque, Prince Edward Island – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
The Honourable Wayne Easter, Member of Parliament for Malpeque, announced Living Lab-Atlantic, Canada’s first agricultural Living Lab designed to benefit farmers and Islanders by enhancing soil health, water quality and crop productivity on Prince Edward Island (PEI).
As part of the $10 million investment in the Living Laboratories Initiative, up to $2.4 million will be granted to the East Prince Agri-Environment Association.
The Association will lead on-farm research activities in collaboration with over a dozen partners and local producers, including more than 20 science teams from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
The research will focus on developing and evaluating various beneficial management practices to address environmental issues in the province, such as water management, fertilizer use, conservation of soil organic matter, and nutrient losses due to soil erosion.
The Living Laboratories Initiative is a new collaborative approach to agricultural innovation that brings farmers, scientists and other stakeholders together to co-develop, test and monitor new practices and technologies in a real-life context. The ultimate benefit will be more practical technologies and sustainable farming practices adopted more quickly by Canadian farmers.
Source : Government of Canada