The B.C. government is adding new regional strategies and taking research applications for farm-level projects to adapt the province’s regions to a changing climate.
The federal-provincial program has developed strategies for six key agricultural regions in the province, Cowichan, Delta, Fraser Valley, Okanagan, Cariboo and Peace.
The latest funding for B.C.’s climate change adaptation program is to fund six to nine new research projects on B.C. farms, with application packages available this fall.
The program funds farm experiments such as vented orchard covers to protect cherries from rain and hail, a technology developed in Europe that has been used in fruit growing areas in Chile and Australia. Vented covers and wind machines were employed last year at Coral Beach Farms in Lake Country.
Another study looked at forage crop production in the Vanderhoof region of the Central Interior, where hay is being grown for export to China as well as regional livestock use.
Farm Adaptation Innovator Program: A Guide to On-Farm Demonstration Research from BC Ag Climate Action Initiative on Vimeo.
Previous and ongoing projects include vineyard water use efficiency studies in the Okanagan, tomato growth in unheated greenhouses in the Cariboo, drought alert and water storage in the Cowichan, irrigation and flood control in Delta and drainage and ditch management in the Fraser Valley.
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