Canada - Applications and Demonstrations of Soil Health Improvement Principles

Description

VGN Resources Group Inc. (VGN) will be the Program Administrator for projects under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food's (Ministry) extension programming for environment and climate change.  This RFP and project is administered by VGN on behalf of the Ministry.The agriculture industry has identified knowledge gaps and requested extension support to help the sector adapt to climate change, mitigate GHG emissions, and improve environmental sustainability. The Applications and Demonstrations of Soil Health Improvement Principles project objectives will be achieved by the use of on-farm demonstrations to highlight beneficial management practices (bmps) that can contribute to an improvement in soil health and assist in climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability.Healthy soils can be a tool to mitigate the risks associated with climate change, and can potentially reduce carbon emissions and increase soil carbon stocks. This supports the reduction in carbon pollution by adoption of good practices as prioritized in the Minister of Agriculture and Food’s 2023 mandate letter.   The project aims to highlight practices supported by the Beneficial Management Practices (BMP) program, a complementary, on-farm cost-share incentive program to assist farm and ranch operations to mitigate some of the risks identified in the farm-specific Environmental Farm Plans (EFPs). The goal of the BMP program is aligned with the goals of increasing adoption of technology and soil health practices that mitigate emerging climate challenges.  The Ministry of Agriculture and Food is working through the B.C. Provincial Soil Health Technical Working Group to develop a common framework for assessing soil health called the Soil Health Assessment Protocol (SHAP). The SHAP is being piloted through this project to assess its’ potential for supporting producers with making data-based management decisions.In terms of reconciliation the potential exists for co-development and collaboration with Indigenous peoples.  Working to create equitable participation of Indigenous peoples in the agriculture and food sector led to  the creation of the B.C. Indigenous Advisory Council on Agriculture and Food (IACAF).Soil Health was an identified priority for the Central South Interior Regional Extension Program region, and soil health and the demonstration of related practices are one of the projects that received the most support. The purpose of this contract is to demonstrate soil health beneficial management practices on farms that have successfully adopted these practices to help producers learn how to become more resilient to climate change on-farm. On-farm learning will be supported by quantifying soil health and production co-benefits of demonstrated management practices through collection of data and other measurables including but not limited to yield, crop quality, soil health and quality, and other intrinsic factors as identified.

Opportunity closing date

29 July 2024

Value of contract

to be confirmed