A specialist in plant–microbe interactions, Professor MacLean leverages beneficial microbes, such as bacteria and fungi, to promote plant growth and combat disease. Her passion for microbiology and sustainable agriculture helped shape the True North Berries project, which received $1 million in funding through the Homegrown Innovation Challenge.
The challenge is a national initiative that supports innovation and collaboration in Canadian agriculture. It aims to reduce Canada’s reliance on imported fresh foods by funding the development of technologies that make local food production more efficient and sustainable. Though focused on berries, the True North Berries project’s goal is to develop systems that can be adapted to other fruits and vegetables to strengthen Canada’s food system.
“Given the challenge’s focus on berries, we chose strawberries due to the large, yet underexploited, potential market for domestic production. Currently, about 90% of strawberries consumed in Canada are imported. Our goal is to enable Canadian farmers to produce these berries at competitive prices and quality during the off-season to meet this demand domestically,” says MacLean.
The True North Berries team, in collaboration with several industry partners, implemented an experimental vertical farming system for year-round strawberry production. Belgium-based Vertiberry equipped the facility with a unique cooling system that draws in cold Canadian air to offset the heat produced by plant transpiration and LED lighting, reducing energy consumption and enhancing efficiency. Fieldless Farms, based in Cornwall, Ontario, manages cultivation and daily operations.
Using a “roots-to-shoots” approach, the team integrates innovations that target every part of the strawberry plant. They sourced high-quality plants from Novafruit in St-Paul-d’Abbotsford, Quebec. They also treated the roots with specially designed growth-promoting bacteria, developed in collaboration with Waterloo-based Ceragen, to enhance yield and resistance. On the “shoots” side, Professor Marina Cvetkovska from the Department of Biology is enhancing photosynthesis by optimizing lighting systems to maximize flowering and fruit development. Meanwhile, Professor Patrick Dumond from the Department of Mechanical Engineering is creating a mechanical system to pollinate the strawberries without bees, improving efficiency and quality control.
Sustainability was further enhanced by Skytree, an Amsterdam-based company whose carbon capture system extracts CO2 from the surrounding air, concentrates it and feeds it into the vertical farm. This promotes plant growth while reducing environmental impacts compared to conventional CO2 sources.
Since its launch in July 2023, the project has seen impressive results. “In just one year, we’ve accomplished a lot: setting up a state-of-the-art vertical farming unit, running multiple experiments and trials, and developing effective inoculants that measurably increase crop yield,” says MacLean. As it advances, the project will help address food security and sovereignty, offering Canadians a more stable, sustainable supply of fresh produce year-round.
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