Healthy Hydroponics is an innovative microbiome monitoring service dedicated to providing pathogen monitoring services to hydroponic farms and growers to enhance prediction of crop diseases and food safety. We use PCR, high throughput sequencing technology, machine learning, and our in-house curated pathogen database to bring you a pathogen detection and microbiome surveillance service that has been tested and improved through feedback from commercial hydroponic growers. Our team of competent scientists include microbiologists, molecular biologists, and a bioinformatician who can help growers create microbiome surveillance plans that are unique to the farm’s hydroponic system and crops. Our pathogen detection and microbiome surveillance helps growers to understand the microbiome and its changes to make informed decisions going forward.
Our Mission
Healthy Hydroponics’ mission is to enhance food safety assurance and improve prediction of crop diseases in hydroponic systems. In present times of climate change and the consequences brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, food sustainability and security are more important than ever. Greenhouses, vertical farming and hydroponics are some of the solutions to ensure people have access to high quality, nutritious food that is abundant and safe.
How We Got Started
In 2020, we were awarded a $150,000 grant from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative to strengthen the agriculture, agri-food, and agri-based products sector, and a $50,000 award from National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program. This two-year project allows us to work with hydroponic farmers in Canada to collect samples from their hydroponic system to identify the microbiomes (microbial communities) in farms of various crops and hydroponic setups. We also collected environmental metadata in tandem with the samples allowing us to analyze microbial trends and diversity in the data within a farm as well as among farms and groups of crops. Identifying the microbiomes in hydroponic systems and crops’ root zones allows us to create markers that detect prevalent microorganisms specifically and quickly.
Read our blog post about the process of sample collection and data analysis here.
Timeline
| Time | Milestone |
|---|---|
| September 2020 | Received funding from CAP and NRC-IRAP for Healthy Hydroponics |
| September 2020 | Healthy Hydroponic information presentation hosted by OMAFRA |
| October 2020 | First sampling by a partnering grower |
| January 2021 | We received our 100th sample from a partnering grower |
| February 2021 | First microbiome report (version 1) sent to growers |
| April 2021 | We received our 300th sample from a partnering grower |
| September 2021 | Horti Daily article published online |
| September 2021 | First microbiome report (version 2) sent to growers |
| October 2021 | Presentation at the Canadian Greenhouse Conference |
| October 2021 | Healthy Hydroponics launched its commercial service |
Healthy Hydroponics is a part of Metagenom Bio Life Science Inc.
Metagenom Bio Life Science Inc. is a biotechnology company in Waterloo, Canada that specializes in providing DNA and eDNA sequencing bioinformatic analysis to academic institutions and industries. Our skillful scientists are trained in molecular biology and bioinformatics and can help you interpret the microbiome data so that you can make informed decisions.