Corner Brook Port Corporation (CBPC) and the Summerside Port Corporation, Inc. (SPCI) are exploring the opportunity to ship grains from Prince Edward Island to Western Newfoundland. First discussions between the two ports indicate that there this may be a viable business opportunity for both entities. The Port of Summerside is currently shipping grains from producers on the island outbound in bulk. Meanwhile, there are a number farms, particularly dairy farms, in Western Newfoundland located close to the Port of Corner Brook.

The Agriculture and Agri-Food System of Canada (AAFS) is an important component of the Canadian economy. Outdoor agricultural shows have moved from their simple marketplace roots to places that facilitate increased productivity, accelerated innovation and business formation. Central to these functions is the geographic concentration of stakeholders. With the growth in show size, supporting effective communication between participants to maximize the potential of this concentration is important and challenging.

We propose to perform detailed studies that characterize chemically and biologically and the unaltered ancestral plant species of the Cannabis genus. Chemically, these studies will provide the chemotype profiles for each parental species for a spectrum of non-tetrahydrocannabinoid compounds. Biologically, these studies will provide the pharmacological profiles for each parental species in conjunction with the genomic nucleotide sequences.

While agricultural migrant workers provide much needed labour in Canadian agriculture, they feel alienated from the host society. Their alienation and exclusion is related in part to the working and living conditions migrants experience in Canada.

The two internships proposed in this application are for research and feasibility project coordinators for the North Coast Innovation Lab (NCIL) in Prince Rupert, BC.
In addition to research and feasibility around potential projects that will a) grow the local economy for fish and marine products, and b) enhance coworking and resource sharing, the internships will also explore, at both systems and ground levels, how social innovation strategies of economic development and community building can be applied in the rural, northern and coastal context.
Ultimately, the NCIL hopes to spark a systemi

Monitoring dairy cows individually around the time of calving has the potential to identify calving difficulties or cows at risk of developing diseases as early as possible and to create alerts for dairy farmers. Therefore, there has been an increase in research investigating methods to accurately predict timing of calving and disease diagnosis via activity and temperature monitoring. Recently, a novel cattle activity and core temperature monitoring system that uses new sensor technology has been developed.

Wireworm (click beetle) has becoming a devastating pest for the potato industry in Prince Edward Island (PEI) and many places in the country and around the world. It is a soil born insect that can penetrate a large number of potato tubers, degrading their quality for processing. The problem is more difficult to control after the ban of soil fumigation was in place in PEI. This proposed work is aimed at developing the RNAi technology by targeting the key genes for insects’ survival and development to control the insect population.

Many alternate treatment options are now used to alleviate chronic intestinal inflammation and microbial imbalance including dietary supplements of prebiotics and probiotics. Resistant starch (RS) represents a range of indigestible dietary carbohydrates passing into the lower gut, without being digested/absorbed in the upper digestive tract. It is speculated that RS can reduce signs and symptoms of intestinal inflammation through modification of the gut microbial communities, regulation of local inflammatory cytokines, and its effects on mucosal barrier system.

Lignin represents the largest reservoir of natural aromatic compounds available on earth. It is a potential substitute for a range of chemicals currently derived from petroleum, but product development and identification of market opportunities remain challenging. The objective of the research is to utilize industrial softwood kraft lignins from the black liquor of British Columbia mills, process them into uniform lignin streams with known performance specifications by fractionation and chemical modification.

The worlds’ forests are being cleared at an alarming rate to make room for agriculture. Consequently, agricultural companies and those that finance them are increasingly required to demonstrate that the farms that they do business with were not recently deforested. Current methods for assessing deforestation involve using experts to analyze satellite images but this process can be cost prohibitive for small farms. The objective of this project is to develop and assess the accuracy of a new method that completely automates this process without the need for experts.