Fresh produce for the North: Universite de Hearst setting up research greenhouse.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: GREEN REPORT

Can warming temperatures lead to opportunity for agriculturalists in Northern Ontario?

Universite de Hearst thinks so. The school is planning to construct a new 1,000-square-foot greenhouse, in partnership with existing greenhouse La Maison Verte, as a research facility to experiment with growing new varieties of fruits and vegetables in Hearst.

In October, the school received $235,000 from the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for the project, and has applied to the provincial government for matching dollars.

If the funds are approved, said Sophie Dallaire, Universite de Hearst's acting president, the school would hire a research chair and a researcher to study various produce varieties that could be grown in the North.

The university already has additional partnerships lined up with Universite du Quebec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue (UQAT) and College Boreal.

"We hope that, in the long term, this would translate into laboratoires horticulture nordique (Northern horticultural laboratories), so we would be a research facility where we would, for the North, be doing research for other products also," Dallaire said.

"And we might extend this initiative to work with the Demonstration Farm here in Kapuskasing that's going to be concentrating on research on beef, so we might, eventually, work with this organization."

After acquiring the Demonstration Farm in 2015, the Town of Kapuskasing is repurposing the former federal facility as a working farm and an applied research facility.

A farmer who relocated to Kapuskasing from southern Ontario is selling locally grown beef under the Kapuskasing Meats banner, and a number of applied research projects are ongoing.

The town plans to set up vacant offices as incubation space for agri-food types of businesses.

Ongoing agricultural research could lead to the development of new programs or course offerings at the university, Dallaire added, although that's more of a longterm objective.

Since La Maison Verte already grows and sells produce through the region, it made them a natural partner when it came to this new greenhouse project.

The impetus for the greenhouse came as seasonal temperatures in the region started to shift. Although climate change is typically viewed in a negative light, Dallaire said the university believes warming temperatures could make way for an agricultural renaissance in the region.

"We noticed that, for growing different fruits and vegetables, it's...