Education

12 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017 ASSINIBOINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE LOCAL ROOTS By Geoff Kirbyson for the Free Press Dr. Sajjad Rao and his team at Assiniboine Community College aren't going to solve the world's food crisis on their own, but they're more than doing their part. The instructor and researcher at the Brandon-based facility oversees a pair of programs — horticulture and sustainable food systems — that provide students with hands-on experience in how to grow food and vegetable crops in traditional fields as well managing those processes in greenhouses. Most consumers probably don't realize it during their weekly grocery shops but much of the food production industry is moving to greenhouse production. Many vegetables you find in the produce section, such as tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers, aren't pulled out of the ground or off a plant in a field — they're grown inside. It's no surprise, really, when you think about it. Despite the glorious summer of 2017, southern Manitoba usually only gets between 105 and 110 frost-free days each year. If you push your luck, you run the risk your crops will die a cold and costly death. Canadians are spoiled when it comes to access to food but with increasingly unpredictable weather — hello, hurricanes — in prime growing areas, such as the Caribbean and the southern U.S., it's becoming crucial for local areas to become self-sufficient, Rao said. "Weather is a big limitation. If a big storm is coming, we won't have food for two to three days in our grocery stores. There are also (new) issues with transporting goods across the border. The rules are changing every day," he said. "We have to produce locally. We can't rely on produce that isn't produced close to us." The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts the global population will hit 9.1 billion in just 23 years — up from 7.6 billion today — and that means the world will need to up its food production substantially to feed everybody. Rao said the global food situation is "alarming." "Food security is a big issue. We need to make sure there's enough food for everyone. Scientists are working towards that. In Manitoba, we're looking at our northern area. There are food security issues there. The big limitation is climate so we're looking for greenhouses so they can grow their own food there," he said. Assiniboine has a number of active research projects on the go, including one on sweet potatoes and another on biological pest control. Potatoes are in extremely high demand in Manitoba because of the McCain Foods and Simplot french-fry processing plants in Portage la Prairie and another McCain facility in Carberry. Combined, the three plants produce more than one million pounds of frozen french fries per year. To help ease the strain, Rao said sweet potatoes can also fit the bill. "The challenge is to identify the sweet potato variety that can mature in a short season. I'm testing those here. There is a lot of potential. The growers are looking forward to growing these sweet potatoes," he said. They also manage greenhouse pests with non-food-eating insects that eat the food- eating ones. Just as importantly, it's all done in an environmentally-friendly manner. "There are no chemicals on the (greenhouse) fruit. It's safe for consumption," he said. Assiniboine also grows food and vegetables for the culinary arts and hospitality industries, to give students in each discipline an appreciation of the other two. "We are bridging the gap and making a connection between the three. Students in the culinary arts see how food is produced in the field," he said. Upon graduating, Assiniboine students are fully equipped to work in the field, including in greenhouses, how to water, fertilize and prune plants, manage lighting conditions as well as how to manage a farm's operations. "They'll be exposed to everything, all aspects of farm management," he said. Of course, we shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves. Nobody is going to flip a switch and move all vegetable and food production into greenhouses over the weekend. But it never hurts to be prepared. "We're in the early days of moving towards greenhouses, but it is coming," he said. ❚ Top: Assiniboine Community College instructor and researcher Sajjad Rao and student Stephanie Hinrichs work in a greenouse. Middle: Student Tiffany Nykolyshyn waters plants. Bottom: Dipak Motisariya shows off sweet potatoes. Submitted photos

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