The agricultural facility called Ag1054 is located at the research station KLRS, 220 km northwest of White Horse.
It is completely autonomous and powered mainly by solar energy and will allow all kinds of fresh produce to be grown throughout the year, from February 2021.
One of the objectives of the project, the first of its kind in Western Canada, is among other things to test new technologies in a northern climate and to allow the station KLRS to be as independent as possible.
The KLRS station farm will start production in February 2021.
Photo : RyanCampbell Photography
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Henry Penn, the station manager KLRS and one of the project managers, hopes that the farm will also improve food security in the southwest of the territory.
The issue of food security is very important throughout the Yukon and in northern Canada. It will be interesting to see how much this kind of system can improve the situation.
, he explains.
Nearly 2000 kg of fruit and vegetables
At peak production, the farm is expected to produce nearly 2,000 kg of fresh fruit and vegetables each year. They will be sold to local communities.
Food security is a priority for the communities around the region of Lhù’ààn Mân (Kluane Lake). We are very interested to see if this project will be successful.
says Kluane First Nation Chief Rocher Dickson.
The fruits and vegetables will grow inside a container powered by solar energy.
Photo : RyanCampbell
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Henry Penn explains that researchers at the station will be in contact with local communities to determine what products they need.
We will cultivate what we are asked to cultivate
, he said.
The project funded in part by the Peter Gilgan Foundation and the National Science Foundation, in the United States obtained funding for three years.
Henry Penn says he’s already planning to scale up the project to allow more food to be grown. He would also like the farm to welcome cattle one day.
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