Beautiful and environmentally-friendly: Riverbank willow study gets federal funding

A group of farmers in central P.E.I. has received a research grant from the federal government to investigate how planting willow trees can mitigate the environmental impact of potato farming.

Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced $895,000 for the East Prince Agri-Environment Association study on Wednesday.

The project will study how willows planted on riverbanks can act as a carbon storage sink, helping to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and protect streams and rivers from nitrogen and phosphorous runoffs.

The study is one of 20 supported by the $27 million Agricultural Greenhouse Gases Program, a partnership with universities and conservation groups across Canada. The program supports research into greenhouse gas mitigation practices and technologies that can be adopted on the farm.

The East Prince Agri-Environment Association is a group of 12 farm families that came together in 2015 to explore ways of building a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly agriculture industry.

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