- Jardin botanique
A $6.5 million project carried out by researchers from the Jardin botanique and the Institut national de la recherche scientifique is part of nine initiatives announced today by Genome Canada.
By combining genomic research with studies on social, economic and environmental impact, the project Omics to Close the Loop has the goal of helping reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector by recycling agrifood waste through:
- improvements in the production of composting, mushrooms and the raising of edible insects;
- production of byproducts of great value for the health of agricultural soils and of crops.
In the longer term, the project will offer solutions that can be implemented by the entire Canadian agricultural sector. In processing a greater volume of agrifood waste through decentralized composting (10%), through mushroom farming (5%) and through insect farming (5%), 220,791 tonnes of CO2 emissions could be avoided and 202,379 tonnes of carbon fixed in the soil in 2035 in Canada.
Co-researchers
- Joan Laur, biologist-researcher, Jardin botanique
- Louise Hénault-Ethier, associate professor and centre director, INRS