A new research partnership of crop commodity groups in Eastern Canada can expect $5.7 million in funding toward public breeding and genetics programs.
The Canadian Field Crops Research Alliance (CFCRA) on Monday was named as the manager of funding for 18 such programs in corn, soybean, oat, barley and spring and winter wheat research, anchored with $4 million pledged Monday by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
“The projects will focus on advancing production efficiencies and insect and disease resistance as well as targeting new markets in the food, industrial and feed markets, both domestically and internationally,” CFCRA chairman Crosby Devitt, manager of market development and research at Grain Farmers of Ontario, said in a GFO release.
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Guelph-based GFO, the marketing board for Ontario corn, soybean and wheat growers, on Monday said it would directly put up $628,000 of the CFCRA’s $1.7 million contribution.
According to a separate federal government release Monday, the work funded will include development of new varieties with “increased yields and more resistance to drought and disease.
“The knowledge and results from this project will allow researchers to shorten the cycle time for varietal development in the future.”
“The research is vital to the future of our industry. It will ensure that farmers have access to varieties that will obtain higher yields with lower production costs and higher quality,” Devitt said in the federal release.
“These projects will lead to new varieties of grains and oilseeds grown with the end user in mind.”
GFO is one of seven collaborating bodies in CFCRA, along with the Federation des producteurs de cultures du Quebec, Manitoba Corn Growers Association, Manitoba Pulse Growers Association, Atlantic Grains Council and not-for-profit seed supply firm SeCan.
The group also includes one such “end user,” Mississauga-based food and beverage firm PepsiCo Canada, whose holdings include the Canadian business arms of Quaker and Frito Lay.
The crops included in this project, which will back research from Manitoba to Prince Edward Island, accounted for over 7.4 million acres of grains and oilseeds in Eastern Canada and about $2.9 billion in farm gate receipts in 2009, the government said.
The federal contribution will flow through the Developing Innovative Agri-Products (DIAP) initiative, a five-year, $158 million program backing “industry-led science and technology projects.”
DIAP’s maximum per project funded is $4 million, targeting up to 75 per cent of eligible project costs; the remainder is required to come from cash contributions from non-government organizations.
The government requires any DIAP-funded project activities, including invoices, auditing and reporting, to be completed by the end of March 2013.
