Newfoundland and Labrador will get over $2 million in public investment toward development of the province’s cranberry industry.
The federal and provincial governments on Friday announced $1.3 million from the federal Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) innovative communities fund, $530,400 in provincial natural resources department funding (including $48,000 from the federal/provincial Agricultural Policy Framework) and $200,000 from the provincial department of innovation, trade and rural development.
The funds will go toward development of more production acres at cranberry pilot sites, a provincewide analysis of sites for cranberry harvesting, and a “comprehensive report” mapping out the possibilities for commercial development in the sector. It will pay for equipment, facilities and staff for the pilot project to produce three million cranberry plants.
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As part of this project, the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture will work with private sector partners to develop 52 new acres for cranberry production, for a total of 84 developed acres in the province.
Provincial Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale in a release called the pilot project a “tremendous success story” that started five years ago with Ottawa and the province cost-sharing for research and development into improving cranberry crop yields.
