Biochar has been proven to be beneficial to agricultural operations by capturing nutrients in the soil and providing these nutrients back to the crops. Before biochar is to be used successfully as a soilless greenhouse media enhancement, its blend rate must first be determined, and this is why Walker tapped into HESIC’s expertise to help investigate this innovation challenge.
Before biochar is to be used successfully as a soilless greenhouse media enhancement, its blend rate must first be determined, and this is why Walker tapped into HESIC’s expertise to help investigate this innovation challenge.
Sinopa Energy Inc. partnered with Agriculture at UWindsor to develop the model to simulate the current state in the mushroom farm, investigate a potential future fully automated state, and collaborative scenarios.
The novel climate optimization software developed by 360 Energy Inc. utilizes the data generated from the climate control system that is currently installed within the greenhouse. A collaborative research project between HESIC and 360 Energy Inc. involved two participating commercial greenhouses that systematically evaluated this proprietary software. Read more to learn about the team’s solution.
Although relationships exist in the greenhouse building market, GGS requires market research to understand the feasibility of this market and the steps to take to enter it. They turned to Niagara College’s Business & Commercialization Innovation Centre team to identify their key markets.
IZC wanted to understand zeolite-based NEREA® substrate with respect to labour, economics and plant growth. They turned to Niagara College to compare the growth of basil with NEREA® as an amendment through a course-based project.
The objective of Phase 1 of this project was to evaluate the potential of the product of VCycene’s intelligent composting device to be classified as a mature compost, as per the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment‘s (CCME) Guidelines for Compost Quality. Niagara College’s Horticultural & Environmental Sciences Innovation Centre (HESIC) team generated, and subsequently evaluated, product from alpha versions of VCycene’s composting device.
Challenge: Business needed to understand the extent to which nutrient levels may be reduced in leachate from NEREA® media blends Solution: Research trials conducted using blends of peat moss, NEREA® and raw zeolite and examined nutrient content in leachate for basil plants Impact: Data from research helps business make important…
To understand how Terra Optima Labs can best position themselves in the market, Niagara College’s Business & Commercialization Innovation Centre completed secondary research to uncover key insights of the horticulture and greenhouse industry.
The team members at Bayview are proud to grow plants using innovative and environmentally sustainable methods. They continuously develop business practices and utilize new technologies that help reduce/re-use waste while generating renewable energy. It’s for these reasons that they reached out to Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (Vineland) to discuss their latest innovation challenge.
