Growing an Organic Strawberry

If you purchase an organically grown strawberry, chances are it has been imported to the province from the United States.

However, if a three year pilot project being undertaken by Westech Agriculture Ltd. proves successful, that could change in the future. With funding help from the P.E.I. ADAPT Council (which administers the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development Fund in the province for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), the Albertan company hopes to develop a protocol for growing organic strawberries in a P.E.I. climate.

They planted their first test plot of less than an acre this year, and owner Nora Dorgan said the first results are somewhat encouraging. However, she added "we are breaking entirely new ground here so it is way to early to make any judgments."

The company develops plants in a nursery setting and sells the cuttings to growers throughout Canada and the United States. Dorgan explained the company included the organic option when it began looking for alternatives to chemicals the company had been using as fumigants.

She explained the project has a two pronged component- as a first step the company wants to determine if strawberries can be grown in commercial quantities in the province. Just as importantly, they are hoping to determine whether such a venture would be economically viable.

As part of the project, Dorgan said the company hopes to bring in a number of experts over the next three years that will not only offer advice to Westech but to the strawberry industry at large through workshops and seminars. She is hoping the first such session will take place this fall.

Dorgan said the project is the firm's first foray into organic agriculture and she admits "it took some time to get our head around the organic concept." She added "there was really an extensive protocol that had to be followed to prepare the test plot for this year's crop.
She said this year's results will provide a benchmark for the remaining two years of the project since "right now we have nothing to compare any results to- there is nothing like this being done anywhere else in eastern Canada that I am aware of."

If the project proves feasible, Westech could find itself on the cutting edge as one of the few suppliers of organic strawberry plants in Canada. However, Dorgan said it is too soon to think that far ahead and "right now we just have to learn as we go- hopefully at the end of the three years we will be able to make a determination whether to take the idea to the next level."

This article appeared in PEI ADAPT Council Industry Newsletter
Vol. IV; No. 9; September 9, 2005

For more information contact
Phil Ferraro, Executive Director, P.E.I. ADAPT Council
c/o The Farm Centre, 420 University Avenue, Room 103
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Canada C1A 7Z5
Phone: (902) 368-2005
Fax: (902) 368-2520
Email: adapt.pei@pei.sympatico.ca
or adapt@pei.aibn.com