YORKTON - Regular readers will be aware that this writer is a huge proponent of research as the best path to a better future for farming.
So seeing recently that Farm Credit Canada has invested $5 million into the accelerated breeding program at the Global Institute for Food Security, (GIFS), is a huge positive in my books.
For those unfamiliar the GIFS was “founded in 2012 in a partnership between Nutrien, the Government of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan (USask), the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) works with a diverse range of partners to discover, develop and deliver innovative solutions for the production of globally sustainable food,” details their website.
“At GIFS, we invest in relevant technology platforms that provide scale and transform our scientific competencies and capabilities into capacities for stakeholders, making us a catalyst for partnerships and innovation world-wide. We have a track-record for managing and delivering on large-scale, multi-disciplinary programs, including the $37-million Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre (P2IRC) funded by a Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) grant to USask.”
The FCC funding is part of the partnership effort mentioned in terms of providing dollars to support research.
Roughly paraphrasing Star Trek the concept behind GIFS is to ‘boldly go where others have not’ in terms of research.
Or, perhaps more accurately it’s just a willingness to take the latest developments in research and combining them as required to achieve breakthroughs – elements such as genomic selection, bio-informatics, speed breeding and computational simulations.
Such tools can speed the rate of genetic gain for crops and livestock.
Turning such tools to the specific needs of Canadian – and more specially Prairie producers – is a step which is probably overdue, but when looking to the long term of viability of farm production it’s better late than never in terms of research technology.
Now no one is going to suggest $5 million will lead to game-changing developments. Research is a costly proposition, but $5 million can be a job starter for sure.
What results from the research the FCC dollars will of course not be seen anytime soon.
Research, even using accelerated breeding techniques, takes years from idea to general release to producers, and not every project initiated will be successful.
But, again the process must start for it to have any chance of being one that is important to farmers in the future.
As a result research investment is always a long term one before seeing dividends, but it also critical for the future so the FCC’s $5 million is a good thing.
