Horticultural Congress Holds Expanded Show
Nova Scotia's $120-million horticultural industry, the province's fastest growing agricultural sector, will host an expanded millennium version of its annual conference and trade show at the Holiday Inn Harbourview in Dartmouth today and tomorrow.
The 21st century is seen as a time of opportunity for the industry, and more people than ever are taking part in the special Scotia Horticultural Congress 2000. Organizers are expecting more than 400 participants, including vegetable, apple and berry growers, and representatives from government, business and academia, doubling last year's attendance.
The number of industry groups sponsoring the event has also expanded for the first time as part of the special millennium congress. This year Horticulture Nova Scotia is being joined by the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association, the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Cranberry Growers Association, the Nova Scotia Potato Marketing Board and the Processing Pea and Bean Marketing Board of Nova Scotia.
"This really is the key event for the province's horticulture industry, bringing together people from a variety of disciplines to discuss issues that face the industry and trends that will take it through the 21st century," said Ernest Fage, Minister of Agriculture and Marketing. "The industry has invested heavily in modern facilities and technology to support increased growth and this conference facilitates that growth through information and ideas sharing."
Sessions will cover a variety of topics, from water issues to soil fertility, marketing initiatives, organic farming, research updates, new crops and new business innovations. Among the speakers are Dr. Doug Powell of Guelph University on food safety; Dave Phillips of Environment Canada on climatic changes and agriculture; and Dr. Vincent Amanor-Boadu of the George Morris Centre on the food supply chain. The George Morris Centre is Canada's only independent research institute dedicated to agri- food policy issues.
The theme of this year's Congress is Feed The World, reinforcing the industry's focus on growth and new opportunities.
"We have put together a programme that will give our farmers information they can use to grow their businesses, make them more efficient, encourage the development of new products and ultimately expand our share of the provincial, national and international markets," said Donna Crawford of Horticulture Nova Scotia, also a conference organizer.
The province's horticulture industry directly supports 3,500 full-time jobs for Nova Scotians, and accounts for more than five per cent of total horticultural sales in Canada. The farm value of horticultural product sales in Nova Scotia tops $120 million annually.