More Quebec strawberries will be on sale throughout the year starting in 2024. La Ferme d’Hiver, in Vaudreuil-Dorion, announced on Tuesday that it would quadruple its production of this fruit in vertical agriculture. A $46 million project, of which $32 million comes from the Government of Quebec.
The company plans to grow one million kilograms of strawberries in closed rooms inside greenhouses, which means quadrupling the size of its facilities. They will be sold 12 months a year in IGA stores across the province, rather than from September to June, as has been the case for a year.
“The strength of a vertical farm is to ensure a constant and predictable supply, controlling the entire climate. This is an advantage for our retailers,” explained the director of commercialization, marketing and communications of the Ferme d’Hiver, Daphné Mailhot.
To carry out its project, Ferme d’Hiver has acquired Serres Vaudreuil, greenhouse market gardeners who were formerly partners and who thus become employees. It is on their land that around 250,000 kilograms of strawberries already grow annually, under the artificial sunshine of columns of light. They are stacked about six meters high and supplied with water by a system of pipes. Bumblebees circulate on the 14 floors to carry out pollination.
“It tastes like summer,” said CEO Alain Brisebois, brandishing one of his little red treasures picked when ripe.
The company emphasizes that it does not use any chemical pesticides and does not release any harmful emissions into the environment. In addition, 90% of irrigation water is recovered and reused. The daily 16 hours of artificial sunshine, which is also used to heat the premises, can for their part be regulated to avoid electricity peaks.
Mr. Brisebois assures that his production will not compete with market gardeners during the summer season, since it will be a “drop in the ocean” and that his prices will undoubtedly be higher than theirs. “Our mission is not to replace the summer producer, but to replace part of the 130 million kilos imported from California and Mexico. Our mission is to bring production closer to consumption,” he said.
The company hopes to one day be able to increase its annual production to 13 million kilos, in order to replace 10% of Canada’s strawberry imports.
For the Quebec Minister of Agriculture, André Lamontagne, support for this project is part of a desire to increase Quebec’s food autonomy. He points out that the objective of doubling, between 2020 and 2025, the volume of food produced in greenhouses has been 50% achieved. Over the past two years, approximately $340 million in private and public investments have been allocated to the development of 71 hectares of new greenhouses, the minister’s office said.
La Ferme d’Hiver plans to export some of its strawberries to the northeastern United States, as well as elsewhere in Canada, within five to ten years. She also counts deploy its technological solutions worldwide.
The future of vegetable production?
A professor of bioresource engineering at McGill University, Mark Lefsrud specializes in improving the energy efficiency of plant growth media. A few dozen companies have embarked on the development of vertical farms in Quebec, mostly small- and medium-scale, he says, and several of them focus on lettuce and leafy greens.
While it is increasingly difficult to get your hands on Californian products, these methods which allow local supply all year round have a lot of future, believes Professor Lefsrud, even if they are still marginal.
Within five years, vertical farms will produce a significant portion of Quebec’s fruits and vegetables, estimates the researcher.
It is true that the profitability of this type of farm remains to be demonstrated, some failures having occurred in the past. But Mr. Lefsrud believes that the technological development of recent years has changed the situation. The professor welcomes government investment in this sector with great enthusiasm.
Our mission is to bring production closer to consumption
The president of Producers in greenhouses of Quebec, André Mousseau, does not see any enthusiasm on the part of its members to convert to vertical farms, but he welcomes the desire to develop new ways of doing things to feed Quebecers. with local products.
Guy Debailleul, co-president of the Institut Jean-Garon, a Quebec think tank specializing in agriculture, also sees these innovations in a good light, as long as vertical farms are set up in industrial zones instead of occupying farming lands. The case of GoodLeaf in Longueuil in particular caused uneasiness within his group and the Union of Agricultural Producers. The office of the Ministry of Agriculture has indicated that it wants to find ways to preserve quality agricultural soils while developing the greenhouse sector.