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Crop science and innovation gets funding boost

Sept. 9, 2013, Woodstock, ON - The Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA) has received $7 million from the federal government to lead a research cluster to help producers better compete in global markets.

The investment will bring together scientific expertise for research in key areas such as developing innovative field crop varieties with the specific traits requested by consumers and processors. These improvements will help producers reduce their input costs, increase efficiencies and develop a higher quality product that is more resilient to pests. The project will also help producers better respond to consumer demand for foods with specific nutritional benefits and increase their competitiveness in global markets.

The five-year plant breeding initiative addresses the unique climates and specialized markets across Canada. The research cluster will support what industry has identified as the highest priority research, done by the country's leading experts. While industry leadership and investment is key to the success of the initiative, by tapping into the expertise of scientists based in research centres across the country, the cluster will benefit from their work in developing improved varieties that address the needs of the market for value-added traits that deliver higher levels of nutrition and improved processing attributes.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers will collaborate on several priorities, including providing Canada's field crop growers of soybeans, corn, oats and barley with enhanced varieties with higher yield, lower input and greater disease resistance.