A Quebec City-area company has picked up federal funding for a project to boost the performance and quality of Canadian-grown strawberries and raspberries.
Les Fraises de l’Ile d’Orleans will get $276,875 through the Developing Innovative Agri-Products initiative, to assess new varieties of berries and develop effective breeding processes.
“In our global economy, where major companies from California, Florida and Mexico are able to sell their strawberries and raspberries on Canadian markets year-round at very competitive prices, we must constantly outperform the competition to remain viable,” Laval professor and company founder Andre Gosselin said Wednesday in a release.
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Les Fraises de l’Ile d’Orleans will work with two other companies, Pepiniere Luc Lareault, a produce seed firm at Lavaltrie, Que., and Phytoclone, a berry and floral propagation company near Trois-Rivieres.
The three companies will work on a research program to improve performance and quality of strawberries and raspberries “that can be produced right here in Canada from early June to November,” Gosselin said in the government’s release.
The funding will help create and evaluate new berry varieties with improved hardiness and disease resistance. Research will also focus on developing better breeding and indoor growing methods of use to growers across Canada.
New berry varieties have previously allowed growers to extend the production season, helping them to be more competitive in the marketplace, the government said in its release last week.
In 2008, Canadian cash receipts for strawberries reached $61 million and raspberries were valued at $35 million.
The Developing Innovative Agri-Products initiative, which supports “industry-led” science and technology projects, is part of the larger federal Agri-Innovations program.
