Virtual Event
Virtual Grower Day | Flowers & Vegetables
August 12, 2020 at 1:00pm ET

Day-neutral strawberries are high-value fruit crop that offers a great market opportunity for growers. Eight three-level towers designed by Affinor Growers Inc. were installed and studied by the John Volken Academy where growth, yield and fruit quality were evaluated under conventional and organic regimes.

Dr. Laila Benkrima, University of the Fraser Valley

Laila Benkrima, PhD, provides consulting and research services to various horticulture and biotechnology projects. Laila has over 25 years of experience in both horticulture and pharmaceutical research and is currently working as a Horticulture Consultant for the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). Her work history includes the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Inc., the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and Laval University. She received her Ph.D. in Plant Biology and her Master Degree in Plant Physiology from the University of Paris, France. Since 2014, she has been involved in an innovative project that combines the vocational rehabilitation program in horticulture with technological innovation at the John Volken Academy (JVA), a long-term residential drug and alcohol treatment center for young men and women aged located in Newton Town Centre, Surrey BC. The Affinor towers technology is brought through a collaborative research project between the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) and JVA.