The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Derrick Bragg, Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture:

Mr. Speaker, I recently visited the Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Development at Wooddale, where our fantastic team is using cutting-edge technology to help advance our province’s agriculture sector and food self-sufficiency goals.

We launched the Vegetable Transplant Program in 2018, to provide high quality, affordable vegetable transplants to commercial farmers, with the aim to increase the amount and variety of produce they grow. In the first year, we distributed a quarter-million vegetable transplants to 25 farmers. This year, our staff went above and beyond, and prepared more than four million high-quality, ready-to-plant vegetable transplants for 110 farmers.

Mr. Speaker, farmers report that these transplants improve yields by up to 40 per cent per acre. Transplants grow faster and stronger in a short season compared to direct seeding, and offer a more diverse variety of produce. Our farmers are not just growing jigg’s dinner vegetables – non-traditional crops, such as leek, broccoli, lettuce, onions and asparagus, are also on the menu.

Community gardening is also contributing to food self-sufficiency, Mr. Speaker. This year, increased funding for the Community Garden Support Program will see friends and neighbours in more than 130 community gardens working together to grow fresh food for their families.

Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to increase food self-sufficiency in fruit and vegetables from 10 per cent to 20 per cent by 2022. So far, we have seen a steady increase to 17.3 per cent. With the recent addition of more Crown land for large-scale potato production, the expanded vegetable transplant program, and a passionate group of farmers and backyard growers growing fresh, nutritious food on farms, at home, and in community gardens, we expect to exceed the 20 per cent food self-sufficiency target come harvest time.

From the smallest vegetable patch to the largest farm, I wish all growers a bountiful harvest.

Thank you.