(file photo/farmnewsNOW)

By Angela Brown

Boost for agriculture

Province and federal government support crop research projects with $9.8 million in funding

Jan 16, 2021 | 12:15 PM

The province announced it is partnering with the federal government to give a $9.8 million boost for crop research in 2021.

The funding will benefit 39 projects, through Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund (ADF).

The federal government is investing 60 per cent for its share and the Government of Saskatchewan 40 per cent, under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Shawn Gibson, executive director of the Agriculture Research branch in the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, told battlefordsNOW the advancements from this research will ultimately return back to producers and the Saskatchewan economy.

“We are really excited to work with the researchers, the scientific institutes, and of course our funding partners to move this important work forward…,” he said. “One of the types of work we are focusing on here is variety development, developing new crop varieties for Saskatchewan producers, so that we can continue to produce high-quality product that the market wants.”

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Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a statement that despite challenges caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s crop sector has continued to work to ensure Canadians and families around the world have access to high-quality products.

“Investing in research helps producers grow the food the world needs in the most efficient and sustainable way possible. These applied research projects will help producers innovate and create growth,” she said.

The support for research will help with Saskatchewan growth plan goal by 2030 to increase crop production to 45 million tonnes, agriculture exports to $20 billion, and value-added revenue to $10 billion.

“We are getting closer on the crop production target. We are close to 40 million metric tonnes harvested,” Gibson said of the latest progress.

In addition to the governments’ support, nine industry partners contributed about $3.17 million in total in funding to these projects, including the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Western Grains Research Foundation, and the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission.

Looking at the breakdown of the largest number of this year’s approved research projects, 11 are for pulses at $4.48 million, 15 for crop-related initiatives at $2.58 million, and six are for cereals at $1.35 million.

The University of Saskatchewan is being funded for 18 of the projects at $5.78 million.

Many crop research projects are focused on creating more crop variety to improve yield and quality, and develop more disease-resistant crops.

“Some of the other types of work that we have here are developing new types of diagnostics so we can identify pests quicker in the field,” Gibson said.

Since many Saskatchewan farmers face the inherent challenges of dry-land farming, crop researchers are investigating ways to help them get the most from their field.

“A lot of their focus is on how we can continue to produce high-quality crops that yield very well under limited moisture because that is the reality for a lot of producers,” Gibson said.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW