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Dr. Ashish Dave
Research Scientist Dr. Ashish Dave heads FloraMaxx.
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Plant Lab
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Floramaxx Lab
While the benefits of tissue culture technology have been well demonstrated over more than 30 years, micropropagation – in vitro rapid clonal propagation of plants in a very short period of time under controlled chemical and environmental conditions – offers additional advantages.
The plants are free from pests and diseases, true to type and authentic with vigorous root and shoot systems and uniform growth. When it comes to commercial value plants that are in high demand, micropropagated starter plants establish faster upon further transplantings and more plants can be produced than with conventional propagation methods on a year-round basis. This in turn facilitates large scale planting.
The process of micropropagation has four phases: Establishing the tissue cultures; multiplication of the cultures; in-vitro rooting; and greenhouse acclimatization and hardening of plants. The tissue culture media, jellified by agar, contains plant growth regulators and macro and micro nutrients that are essential to produce identical plants, or clones under sterile conditions. Thousands of copies of a plant can be produced in a short period of time. The time from the order being placed to the delivery of the rooted starter plants to a commercial nursery is less than 32 weeks.
The micropropagated starter plants, or ‘plugs’, are small sized rooted plants in individual cells of a tray that can be transplanted into larger pots/containers or directly into the field. Because the plugs are compact and take up less shipping volume than finished containers, they consume fewer fossil fuels while being transported. Plugs also have a shorter growing time in the nursery than finished container plants and are easier to move around, creating less of an environmental footprint.
FloraMaxx Technologies Ltd. in West Kelowna is one of the few companies in the Okanagan using micropropagation technology to produce a range of trees, lilacs and berries that grow well in the valley. It is haskap berries – often described as a “super food” for their exceptionally high cancer fighting antioxidants – that have become the laboratory’s focus, however. The taste of haskaps has been described as “a blend of grapes, raspberries and blueberries with a zingy finish.” The haskap berry is developed for commercial cultivation by the University of Saskatchewan under its Fruit Breeding Program. The berry thrives in cold climates and grows well in many parts of Canada. No wonder it is on its way to becoming a multi-million dollar industry.
Research Scientist Dr. Ashish Dave, who heads FloraMaxx, has extensive experience internationally in commercial plant biotechnology and is among the Adjunct Faculty of Biology at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan.“Access to high quality starter plants locally is helping meet the demand for haskaps by nurseries, commercial growers and hobbyists,” he says. “The Okanagan is the perfect place to locate our laboratory as agriculture is so important to the region’s economy. Haskaps grow well in the Okanagan and support local growers in diversifying their crops.”
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Haskap Berries
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Haskap in Greenhouse
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Haskap Lab Plant
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Haskap Plug
FloraMaxx sources high quality haskap berry tissue material from the University of Saskatchewan and other plant materials from certified facilities in Canada and the United States. The in-vitro production takes place at the company’s state-of-the-art laboratory in West Kelowna using environmentally controlled “Closed Production Systems.” The company is also working with the University of Saskatchewan to conduct field trials in different areas of British Columbia to identify the best climates for several varieties of haskaps and increase production in the province.
The value of micropropagation is also being demonstrated through FloraMaxx’s work with Kalala Organic Estate Winery in West Kelowna. “As an organic winery, Kalala is always trying to improve their growing practices,” says Dr. Dave. “Our work is aimed at identifying superior clones of grapes for wine which we can propagate in our lab and eventually replace the existing vines with grapes that provide a higher yield and better flavour.”
For companies like FloraMaxx, just acquiring the propagating plant materials and the licensing to grow them is a lengthy and complex process. The plant materials must be sourced from certified industry laboratories and there are months of paperwork that must be completed before a single plant can be produced. As well, the risk factors associated with tissue culture micropropagation are high; a small mistake can take a company back six months in production.
Despite these challenges, the benefits of this bio-technology to producers and consumers look to be a major boon to agriculture for many years to come. ■
