DESCHAMBAULT, QUEBEC. Parliamentary Secretary Pierre Lemieux announced today an investment of over $250,000 to the Centre de recherche en sciences animales de Deschambault (CRSAD) to help position Canada as a world leader in beekeeping research. This research is geared towards optimizing the profitability of honeybee colonies and maintaining healthy bee populations in our agricultural regions.
The Centre will test the effects of probiotic supplements on bee health, paving the way for the future commercialization of feed additives that will result in healthier, more productive pollinators.
Quick Facts
- The Centre de recherche en sciences animales de Deschambault (CRSAD) is a not-for-profit organization formed in 1999 as a partnership between the ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation (MAPAQ) and Laval University, to make specialized farm resources available to the agri-food sector.
- Canada’s beekeeping industry is valued at $100,000,000 and consists of an annual average of 7,000 beekeepers maintaining 580,000 colonies.
- This investment is made through the Industry-led Research and Development stream of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) AgriInnovation Program, a five-year, up to $698-million initiative under Growing Forward 2.
Quotes
“Our Government continues to make significant investments in research to protect the health of our bees because a healthy bee population is integral to a successful harvest, a prosperous agriculture industry and a strong economy.” Parliamentary Secretary Pierre Lemieux
“In partnership with the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Beaverlodge Research Farm, this project will focus on the development of sustainable alternative strategies to control some particularly insidious diseases that are responsible for major losses of bee colonies. The benefits for Canadian bee producers are potentially huge and will affect many other crops in Canada.” Jean-Paul Laforest, President of the CRSAD
