To get the most out of your greenhouse biocontrol program, start with preventative strategies.

Several local wineries have taken the age-old Italian method called appassimento to create some truly remarkable wines. But winemakers were concerned by the amount of loss they were experiencing. Coming to the aid of Ontario winemakers was the staff at Vineland.

A cold, wet spring is delaying the planting season for some Hamilton-area farmers shut out from their fields. Michael Josiak, farm and grounds operations manager at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, said peaches, apricots, cherries and plums could be impacted.

The pressure points growers face are not anything they can control — cost and availability of labor, energy expenses, reduced margins. And there’s technology. One of the focuses at Vineland is helping greenhouses integrate technology into their production systems and conducting research projects.

A robotic loader that can take the manual labour out of placing greenhouse mini cucumbers onto trays is now available on the market. Developed by researchers at Vineland in partnership with CMP Automation, the technology is part of ongoing efforts to reduce labour costs for farmers through automation.

As part of a new Canadian Apple Breeding Consortium, Canadian researchers including Vineland’s Dr. Daryl Somers are pursuing several apple varieties that might work in different areas of the country.

In spring 2017, Vineland’s new Canadian Shield roses were planted in gardens across the country to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation. This extremely hardy, disease-resistant repeat bloomer with vivid red blooms and glossy green foliage had been in development for several years, and the timing of its release couldn’t have been better. But beyond the fanfare, as the gardening world quietly slipped into its routine maintenance tasks, how has the iconic rose settled into the landscape?

Vineland’s Greening Canada’s Highways tree planting research update.

Chinook Sunrise, a shrub-type rose, is the second release in a series of roses called Vineland’s 49th Parallel Collection. Its blooms are described as a delicious kaleidoscope of shades, from deep coral to pale pink.

Biotechnology experts met in Toronto to discuss how Canada’s regulatory system could better enable the safe commercialization of gene-edited plants and animals. Because of the investment exodus occurring in Europe, Michael Pautler, head of genomic services at Platform Genetics Inc., a sub-company of Vineland, says European Union companies looking for new horticultural crops have been increasingly working with Vineland.

Vineland’s most recent survey of Canadian greenhouse growers found a growth in the number of biocontrol users and the extent of biocontrol use.

Sunrise Greenhouses has collaborated on an artificial intelligence-based smart irrigation project at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre that allows for predictive modelling of smart irrigation in potted crops.