March 7, 2013, Vineland Station, Ont. — Vineland Research and Innovation
Centre (VRIC) is conducting an online survey to better understand how
it can adjust research efforts to help growers meet their challenges
with pest management and increase profitability.
March 7, 2013, Vineland Station, Ont. — Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (VRIC) is conducting an online survey to better understand how it can adjust research efforts to help growers meet their challenges with pest management and increase profitability.
The results will provide researchers with a better understanding of grower challenges and which pest management practices are being used in Canadian greenhouses.
The Consumer Insights and Product Innovation department, headed by Dr. Isabelle Lesschaeve, is conducting the survey. Funded by the Ontario Research Fund, it is run in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Western Ontario.
Click here for the survey.
The survey takes approximately 15-25 minutes to complete and the
participants will be entered into a prize draw to win a portable Boreal2
stereomicroscope SKU WW01799M29 (http://boreal.com/). The chances of
winning will be approximately 1 in 50.
SURVEY PART OF LARGER STUDY
The survey is part of a larger project investigating public perceptions of alternative pest management practices in greenhouses. Pest management practices considered are conventional, organic, biological control and biotechnology.
The project has so far focused on consumer perceptions of these practices and how it may affect their purchase decisions for vegetables or ornamental plants grown in greenhouses.
The next steps?
• Researchers need to bridge the gap between consumers’ perceptions and growers’ practices and understand how they can help growers better understand consumer demands.
• Researchers are reaching out to growers to acquire a better understanding of how pest management practices are being applied in Canadian greenhouses and the perceived advantages or disadvantages of using or not using some of these pest management practices.
DIRECTING RESEARCH THAT WILL BE MOST BENEFICIAL TO GROWERS
Having a better understanding of the challenges faced by growers in pest management will help researchers determine where the current gaps are in pest management technology so that VRIC researchers can direct their research efforts in a way that will be most beneficial to growers.
The eventual goal is to generate production research that will help growers control pests more successfully, resulting in improved productivity and profitability while using pest management practices that make their products attractive to consumers.
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