KPU Farm

8 acresGarden City Rd, Richmond, British Columbia, V6X4H9Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic mindset which respects and nurtures the deep interconnectedness of our food production systems.

STORIES OF REGENERATION:

SHORT FILM

The ancient peat bog of KPU Farm

PODCAST

Podcast: Partners in the Ecosystem at KPU Farm

WEBINAR

🎥 Regenerating relationships: Humans, ecosystems, and the food we eat

Photo gallery

British Columbia

REGENERATIVE PRINCIPLE

Preserve and restore natural ecosystems

2023-09-16 | Live Event

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Products

  • Vegetables and soft fruit

Regenerative Practices

  • Minimize soil disturbance
    • Minimum-till 
      Minimum tillage is a soil cultivation practice that reduces the number, depth (0-10 cm), and intensity of tillage operations (no inversion of the soil) to minimize soil disturbance.
  • Keep the soil covered and maintain living roots year-round
    • Cover crops 
      Plants grown alongside, preceding, or following cash crops with the purpose of increasing soil fertility, reducing soil erosion, and suppressing weeds.
    • Organic mulch 
      Organic mulch involves covering the soil surface with a protective barrier to increase soil health, reduce soil erosion, and suppress weeds. the mulch can be composed of various organic materials such as straw, leaves, or compost.
    • Plastic mulch 
      Non-living, non-organic sheets of polyethylene terephthalate (pet) plastic applied alongside, or following, cash crops to protect the soil.
    • Intercropping 
      Simultaneously growing two or more crops adjacent to one another, on the same piece of land and within the same growing season. crops are paired based on their differing, yet complementary, space and resource requirements.
  • Protect and enhance biodiversity
    • Companion cropping 
      Simultaneously growing two or more crops together in the same field so they complement one another by improving nutrient cycling, suppressing pests and weeds, and enhancing biodiversity.
    • Diverse crop rotations 
      Planting crops with different characteristics in sequence on the same field over time
    • Pollinator buffers 
      Patches or rows of diverse flowering vegetation that provide pollinators with permanent habitats and food sources. they can be planted as intercrops or at the edge of fields.
    • Habitat conservation/creation/restoration 
      The conservation, creation, and restoration of ecosystems to improve habitat value for wildlife. forests, prairies, riparian areas, or wetlands can be restored along farmland.
  • Optimize input use
    • Compost 
      Organic matter that has been recycled through a composting process into a form that can be used as a soil amendment.\r\ncompost is the stable, nutrient-rich product of decomposed organic matter—such as plant residues, manure, or food scraps—that has been biologically processed under controlled aerobic conditions.
    • Manure 
      Manure (also known as livestock manure) is a type of soil amendment rich in nitrogen that integrates soil organic matter back into the soil and feeds the soil food web.
    • Minimal to no use of synthetic pesticides 
      Any product, device, organism, substance or thing that is manufactured, represented, sold or used as a means for directly or indirectly controlling, preventing, destroying, mitigating, attracting or repelling any pest (health canada, 2024).\r\nin canada, the most used pesticide active ingredient types are glyphosate, 2,4-d, glufosinate ammonium, and mcpa (all herbicides). then, there are also insecticides and fungicides such as chlorpyrifos, clothianidin, or chlorothalonil.
    • Minimal to no use of synthetic fertilizers 
      Fertilizers that are derived from synthetic sources. \r\nas plants extract nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur are the four most important nutrients) from the soil during every growing season, they must be replenished through fertilizers, manure, legume cover crops (through nitrogen fixing), and compost added to fields annually.
  • Preserve and restore natural ecosystems
    • Maintain living roots year-round (agroforestry and perennials)
      • Perennial crops (grasslands) 
        Crops that regrow each year in a specific climate without needing to be reseeded.
      • Native perennial vegetation conservation 
        The conservation of existing—or reintroduction of—native perennial vegetation, those that occur naturally in a region in which it evolved. it includes grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, and coastal habitats.
      • Riparian buffers 
        Mixed woody and non-woody species planted along the edges of bodies of water (streams, rivers, lakes, or ponds).
    • Improve water cycles
      • Water conservation 
        The optimized use of water for crops and trees, or strict water use during critical periods of crop stages.

    Observations

    • Soil organic matter increase from almost 0% to an average of 11%
    • Significant increase in biodiversity for birds, insects, native plant species, and mammals
    • Decrease in overwinter flooding
    • Increase of beneficial insect populations
    • Decrease in overall compaction

    Certifications

    • Organic (Certified organic with BCARA for vegetables and fruit)

    How to buy

    • We sell at the Kwantlen Street Farmers Market and to Discovery Organics. In 2022, we also donated 27% of our harvested yield to the Richmond Food Bank. Our Kwantlen Student Association also takes an (unrecorded) amount to a community fridge for students to take for free at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
    Contact
    kpu.ca/agriculture/farmskpufarm@kpu.ca
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