Grant: Engage Plus Grants Program

Terramera is a Bio/Ag Tech company developing high-performance sustainable alternatives to conventional*chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Terramera aims to create healthy, safe environments and crops free of toxic*chemicals, and to make sustainable and organic farming cheaper, more productive and abundant.*The neem plant has been used for centuries in Asia for human and plant health purposes. One component,*azadirachtin, has been well studied and registered internationally (but not in Canada yet) as a natural*insecticide, fungicide, and nematicide. Terramera has developed novel methods to formulate neem oil to*various components to be used for pest management and crop enhancement.*Individual formulations based on neem oil will be applied to grapevines at several growth stages. During the*growth season, the grapes will be analyzed for determining the impact of the treatments on grape quality.*Compositional characteristics of the grapes such as concentration of sugars, organic acids, anthocyanins,*tannins, and aromatics will be tested.*The final goal of this project is to further understand the effects of neem oil on grape composition and to*develop products which would enhance the quality of grapes, promote early ripening and, thus, enhance the*quality of the wine.