It's been 25 year's since organic crop research began at the University of Manitoba's Glenlea research site south of Winnipeg.

A celebration was held last Friday at the Glenlea Research Station to commemorate the milestone.

Professor of Agronomy Martin Entz is one of the founding members of the project.

He explained how it all got started.

"When I started here at the University of Manitoba, there was a lot of discussion around making agriculture more sustainable," said Entz. "We did a lot of farm surveys and we continued to work on farms but I also felt that we needed a study where we compared a whole host of systems and conducted over the long-term to allow us to see what the long-term effects really are."

Entz notes that over the past quarter century, the organic market in Canada has exploded, creating a lot of opportunities for conventional farmers to diversify.

"Right now there's a business opportunity for farmers in Manitoba to capture organic markets," said Entz. "The market is huge. Canada will not be able to supply the Canadian market in the foreseeable future."

He adds the U of M now offers a diploma and degree organic course, with about 30 to 40 students enrolled in the diploma course every year.