AGRIS Co-operative board President John
Nooyen announced at the co-operative’s annual meeting, that AGRIS has pledged
$100,000 towards the construction of a new Ontario Sustainable Crop Research
and Innovation Centre to be built at the University of Guelph’s RidgetownCampus.
The proposed new research centre will focus
on sustainable cropping priorities for Ontario producers and will feature state-of-the-art
research suites, laboratories, seed storage units and research offices. When
complete, it will also be a learning centre for agricultural students in
diploma, masters or Ph.D. programs.
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| From L-R: John Nooyen, AGRIS Co-operative board president, Ken McEwan, University of Guelph Ridgetown campus director. |
“AGRIS Co-operative has a long association
with the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus and we are proud to help
support the construction of this new Ontario Sustainable Crop Research and
Innovation Centre,” says Nooyen. “This
will continue AGRIS Co-operative’s rich heritage of leadership in supporting local
agricultural initiatives,” added Nooyen. AGRIS Co-operative also assists in
supporting other agricultural events at the Ridgetown campus such as the
Southwest Agricultural Conference and Crop Diagnostic Days.
“This new Crop Research and Innovation
Centre will not only be of tremendous benefit to the students and faculty of
the Ridgetown Campus, but also to producers in southwest Ontario and across
Canada, providing them with valuable agronomic information,” says Jim Campbell,
AGRIS Co-operative general manager.
The new Ontario Sustainable Crop Research
and Innovation Centre will work to keep Ontario agriculture globally
competitive. It will address issues in production systems, best management
practices, crop evaluation, agronomic strategies, trait development, nutrient
management, land usage, resource and energy application, variety development
and evaluation and plant breeding.
