
Tag Archives Vegetables

In Chile’s Atacama, world’s driest desert, growing lettuces with fog
In Chile's arid Atacama, the driest desert in the world, growers and researchers are looking to harness water from the very air itself to grow lettuces and lemons, using a net to catch drops of moisture from fog.

Expanding greenhouse sector means more home-grown veggies
Plenty of room to expand in controlled environment agriculture, but investment needed says FCC
Canada continues to rely heavily in imported fruits and vegetables, especially during its long winters but different types of controlled environment agriculture like greenhouses are expanding and changing the balance says Farm Credit Canada.

Smucker to shed Bick’s brand
Pickle brand, other Canadian condiments to go to TreeHouse
U.S. food firm J.M. Smucker has a deal in place to sell off the Canadian pickle brand Bick’s and a portfolio of condiment brands it makes for the Canadian market. Ohio-based Smucker announced Oct. 17 it will sell the Bick’s brand plus the Habitant pickled beets, Woodman’s horseradish and McLarens pickled onions brands to Illinois […] Read more

Robots may help grain farmers diversify
Tech could support labour-intensive higher-value crops
Chuck Baresich, who owns an agricultural robotics business in Ontario, says controlling weeds with robots is probably best suited for high-value, horticultural crops in Canada. However, large-scale grain farmers could also use the technology if they think about it differently. “Let’s say my brother and me are growing 1,500 acres of corn,” said Baresich, who […] Read more

Limagrain offers to buy out seed maker Vilmorin
Pride Seeds co-owner has majority stake in veg seed firm
Paris | Reuters — French agricultural co-operative Limagrain has offered to buy the 28.78 per cent of Vilmorin it does not already own in a deal that values one of the world’s biggest seed suppliers at 1.43 billion euros (C$2.13 billion). Limagrain said on Friday it was offering 62.60 euros per Vilmorin share, a premium […] Read more

Aurora buys control of major B.C. hothouse veg firm
Bevo Farms to take over Aurora Sky cannabis production site
A major player in B.C.’s greenhouse vegetable sector is about to expand its operations into an Alberta cannabis grow facility — backed by a major investment from the plant’s owner. Aurora Cannabis on Aug. 25 announced a subsidiary is buying a 50.1 per cent stake in Bevo Agtech, the parent of vegetable and ornamental plant […] Read more

Produce prices spike in flood-hit Pakistan as food crisis looms
Flooding wrecks crops, hampers logistics
Lahore | Reuters — Vegetable and fruit prices have soared in markets across Pakistan as devastating rains ruin crops and disrupt supplies, an early sign of how the worst floods in decades are creating food shortages at a time of financial crisis. Pakistan’s 220 million people are already facing rampant inflation, with consumer prices up […] Read more

Italian court upholds veto against Syngenta purchase of seed producer
Rome | Reuters — An Italian administrative court ruled that a government veto of the purchase of seed producer Verisem by Chinese-owned Syngenta was valid, the agrochemicals giant said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Mario Draghi blocked the proposed takeover in October, the second time he used the special “golden power” rules to ward off an […] Read more

Prizes put up to develop year-round berry production in Canada
Weston Foundation's new challenge backed with $33 million
A philanthropic foundation focused on improving public health now wants to improve diets by finding ways to juice up Canada’s home-grown fruit supplies. The Weston Family Foundation on Tuesday pledged $33 million over six years for what it calls the Homegrown Innovation Challenge, a prize challenge pitting ideas against ideas with the goal of extending […] Read more

Making food waste work in your feeding program
There are several benefits and challenges to weigh when introducing food waste as a feed source
When customers visit Mike Buis’ on-farm retail store to purchase beef, they often ask what unusual product he’s feeding his cows that day. “It keeps it interesting,” says Buis, who farms at Chatham, Ont., and feeds cull vegetables and processing byproducts to his herd. “They need to almost drive directly by the feed bunk to […] Read more