Canada: Toward food self-sufficiency in Québec: Gigrow Urban Farms invests $13 million to build one of the largest urban agriculture projects in the province
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Gigrow’s horizontal rotary cultivation technology optimizes the plant production cycle while limiting water consumption and energy losses.
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Gigrow Urban Farms
Aug 05, 2021
Excerpt:
Gigrow Urban Farms, a new Québec company specializing in sustainable agriculture, announced today during a ground-breaking event an investment of $13 million for the construction of its first urban farm. Located in the Varennes industrial park, this initial 24,000-square-foot facility will become one of Québec’s largest urban agriculture projects.
Using their partner Gigrow’s innovative Québec-developed technology, called horizontal rotary garden, Gigrow Urban Farms will eventually produce up to four million heads of lettuce a year, as well as other plant products, with a system that reduces water use and produces a year-round, contaminant-free and stable crop. This is what sets it apart from traditional farming methods around the world.
“Horizontal rotary cultivation is one of the most sustainable solutions for the future of agriculture,” says André Tremblay, President of Gigrow Urban Farms. “We are proud to offer a greener alternative with a carbon footprint as much as five times smaller than other farming methods! Our farms will be operated in a controlled environment that is available 365 days a year. This means we are not dependent on the seasons or the weather. This is a significant step towards Québec’s food autonomy!”
With this new infrastructure, Gigrow Urban Farms aims to help support government efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency through consistent local production. This initial urban farm is a first milestone for the company, which wants to build three to four other similar facilities across Québec within the next five years. In addition, since the technology used meets all organic farming criteria, the company is seeking to obtain organic certification for its crops in the near future.
“The City of Varennes wants to become a benchmark for sustainable development in Québec,” says Varennes Mayor Martin Damphousse. “We are very pleased to welcome a company like Gigrow Urban Farms, whose mission is perfectly in tune with our city’s values.”
