Planting season for this year is coming up soon.
And the North Peace Applied Research Association (NPARA) has been busy making the preparations.
Nora Paulovich. (Photo/NPARA)
Nora Paulovich, the Manager & Research Coordinator at NPARA, told the AM 610 Newsroom that they usually would have started planting by now.
But this year, not much has been done as of yet because of the weather.
“But we are getting lots of seed lots in,” said Paulovich. “So we are getting ready to do our variety plots, where we have to package everything of course.
“As well, our research program for this year has been finalized,” she continued. “We will be doing our traditional variety plots, which include wheat, barley, oats, oil seeds, peas, chick peas, faba beans, lentil, as well as a canola variety.”
Paulovich says that all of the above crops can usually be found growing right across the Peace Country. But she adds that some are trying out a new crop this year.
“It’s called quinoa,” said Paulovich. “It’s kind of the new health fad. Some people like to include that in their cereal crops, and while I haven’t cooked with it myself, some people use it as a substitute for rice.
“A few producers are trying this crop out this year,” she added. “And we also have a farm schedule going on for that this year as well.”
Quinoa originated in the Andean region of South America, and was domesticated 3- to 4-thousand years ago for human consumption. The crop typically crows in cooler climates.
Besides the crops themselves, Paulovich also describes what NPARA has growing for this year.
“We have a plant growth regulator project on the go,” she said. “We will be continuing with our soil health projects, and of course, we’re continuing our forage demonstrations. We’re participating in the provincial forage trial. And we also have our sand point alfalfa project that we are continuing with.”
NPARA has also set their tour dates for this year. The dates of each can be found on their website, at www.npara.ca.
– Posted by BET
