State-of-the-art greenhouse to grow tomatoes in Dauphin

Supplied image of the greenhouse in Dauphin.

A new state-of-the-art greenhouse in Dauphin will grow millions of pounds of tomatoes every year.

Vermillion Growers opened the large-scale, 10-acre vegetable greenhouse last week, with a total project budget of $32 million. As part of the first phase of the project, the facility is expected to produce about 10 million pounds of vine tomatoes every year.

“Controlled-environment growing, of course, is the future,” said Maria Deschauer co-founder and managing director of Vermillion Growers.

“For example, we will be growing and harvesting fresh tomatoes on the vine in November, December, January, February, March. This is why it’s so important for Manitoba and for central Canada to start incorporating this technology that allows us to provide year-round produce to our population.”

What makes the facility innovative is that it cuts down on the amount of water that is needed from outside sources by gathering moisture and rainwater.

The greenhouse also features a coating that allows for extra reflection from the sunlight, as well as diffused glass to distribute the sunlight evenly.

“[The greenhouse] has the capacity to harness all the melted snow and the rainwater, collect all of that in a pond and then reuse it,” said Ricky Elz, the account product manager with Gakon Netafim, the company that provided materials and installation for greenhouse.

Deschauer said the greenhouse will not only provide tomatoes, but will also bring economic growth to the Dauphin area. Vermillion expects to employ about 34 staff for the first phase of the project, and then 210 employees upon the completion of the second phase.

“We’re looking at job creation and all the spinoffs of creating those jobs within our community here,” she said.

For the second phase of the project, Vermillion plans to grow sweet peppers and cucumbers. In the coming years, the site will expand to 70 acres.