JD Irving (JDI) announced a new CAD$3.2 million state-of-the-art laboratory in Sussex, Canada to work for forestry. Source: JD Irving
The facility will be operated by Maritime Innovation Limited which is a division of JDI.
The new facility is part of a more than CAD$5 million investment initiated in 2011 to commercialize new tree improvement techniques.
Included in this total is a direct investment of CAD$2.1 million by the company.
“Over the past 20 years, JD Irving Limited has invested over CAD$20 million in forest research and tree improvement.
“This new state-of-the-art research facility will allow us to concentrate our efforts in one centre of excellence, increasing our research capability in terms of building space and technological capacity,” said Jim Irving, co-chief executive officer of JDI.
“Natural Resources Canada, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and the Province of New Brunswick are valued partners in the commercialization of ground-breaking science.
“The 20-year effort by Dr. David Miller of Carleton University is one example. Dr. Miller’s research and discovery has resulted in patents in North America, Europe, and Australia and has the potential to reduce pesticide use over time with a natural treatment that builds tree tolerance against spruce budworm,” said Mr Irving.
Through the Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program, Natural Resources Canada is investing CAD$982,000 to enable the construction of a state-of-the-art facility.
The project is the first large-scale advanced seedling plant in Canada that incorporates both the somatic embryogenesis process and Irving’s patented Endophyte-Enhanced Seedling Technology that enhances the seedlings’ natural tolerance of insect and fungal pests.
Four million seedlings a year will be produced at the new Sussex facility.
In addition to Natural Resources Canada’s investment, the project is also supported by a CAD$1.4 million repayable loan under the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s (ACOA) Atlantic Innovation Program.
The Government of New Brunswick has contributed CAD$500,000 to the project.
Two specific projects will be the immediate focus of Maritime Innovation Limited: The new lab will produce quality seedlings by the plant reproduction method called ‘somatic embryogenesis’.
The seedlings come from high-value varieties of spruce and pine “parents” sourced from forests across the region.
For the past 20 years, JDI has been working with Natural Resources Canada on this project.
This tree propagation technology enables rapid development of high-value tree varieties that integrate growth, quality, and disease and insect resistance through exploitation of natural variability.
Secondly, the lab will also produce specific naturally occurring fungi (endophytes), which live inside trees across our region.
The fungi produce chemical compounds, which improve the host tree’s tolerance of attack by insect species such as the spruce budworm and diseases like white pine blister rust.
The fungi are produced in large controlled vessels and the cultures are sprayed on seedlings in greenhouses to inoculate them.
These specific fungi have been demonstrated to stay with the tree as it grows to maturity. This world-first approach to improving trees’ natural pest tolerance has been developed collaboratively with Dr. David Miller at Carleton University.
It has resulted in five patents to date and over 10 research papers in peer-reviewed academic journals.
