$12M in crop research funding announced at CropSphere

Can peas be packed with more protein? Is there a better way to beat back herbicide-resistant wild oat?

Those questions could be answered thanks to a government funding package for crop research unveiled Wednesday.

The federal and provincial agriculture ministers announced at CropSphere at TCU Place in Saskatoon that they’ll be providing just over $12 million to 44 research projects related to cereal, pulse and other crops.

Of that money, $8.3 million will be going toward the University of Saskatchewan.

Among the projects being funded is a bid to increase the amount of protein and enhance the seed quality of peas.

“There are more companies these days that are opening facilities to extract protein,” said Tom Warkentin, chair of field pea breeding and genetics at the U of S Crop Development Centre.

“So to make their industry more efficient, it’s better if the starting material – the peas – have more protein, to begin with.”

Other projects include developing a weed control system for herbicide-resistant wild oat in wheat crops, improving vitamin extraction from canola crush co-product and establishing resistance to Fusarium head blight in wheat.

“This funding in crop research will provide Canadian farmers, producers, and agribusinesses with the knowledge and technologies they need to compete globally and boost their bottom lines,” federal minister of agriculture Lawrence MacAulay said in a release.

The funding is part of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a $338 million investment program that is paid into by both the provincial and federal governments.

—With files from Northeast NOW’s Alice McFarlane.