Ag-based products, technology and on-farm ideas hatched in Nova Scotia are the expected beneficiaries from a new $3.9 million federal/provincial Innovation Fund.
The new fund, supported 60-40 by Ottawa and the provincial government under the Growing Forward ag policy framework, will back “research, innovations in marketing and developing new products as well as on-farm technology that boosts competitiveness,” the province said in a release Tuesday.
The fund is meant to support “market-oriented, consumer-driven initiatives,” Agriculture Minister John MacDonell said in the release.
The fund’s three categories of interest are:
- “Technology Development 2000,” aimed at research activities that support “new, leading agricultural technologies and knowledge;”
- “Innovation and Commercialization of New Opportunities for Agri-Based Products,” meant to support “near market-ready and pre-research technology” for development of “innovations, markets and business opportunities;” and
- “Supporting the Innovation Capacity of Farmers,” to develop or adapt technical innovations for “on-farm profitability and competitiveness.”
Fund information and application forms are available online or by calling the province’s Programs and Business Risk Management Office at 1-866-844-4276.
