Vertical Growing Systems for Fruit

Agriforest BioTechnologies has received a $150,000 research grant from BC’s Agritech Grant Program to improve vertical growing systems for fruit and berry production.

The grant will specifically support the company’s work in integrating tissue culture technologies with environmentally controlled vertical growing systems. The company says the funding will focus particularly on improving the qualities of planting stock and decreasing the cost of production for new varieties of berry and tree fruit crops to meet the growing demand for superior planting materials by the growers of BC and Canada.

The project will be carried out under the direction of Dr. Kamlesh Patel of AgriForest Biotechnologies Ltd.

AgriForest has grown as the leading supplier of high-quality planting materials derived through tissue culture cloning of elite species of fruit trees, berry crops and high value landscaping plants in Canada. Over the last 25 years AgriForest has developed proprietary plant tissue culture technologies which have helped commercialize new plant varieties of tree fruits and berry crops released by Agriculture Canada, University Agricultural Departments as well as private breeders. 

Patel says AgriForest scientists Dr. Faiq Khan and Dr. Mahesh Pudasaini will be working with a group of researchers from UBC Okanagan, in an attempt to develop more energy efficient and cost effective greenhouse technologies. “The development of this innovative technology is expected to result in up to 40 per cent savings in labor and energy costs, leading to production of superior quality planting stocks at a reduced cost, to meet the growing demand by the growers of BC and Canada."

Patel carried out his initial research at Yale University and later at the University of Calgary.