Sask. sets $10M for wheat research
Crop must feed ‘hungry planet’
The provincial government will plow $10 million into new funding for wheat-related research over five years.
“Wheat has become as much a rotation crop as it used to be the king,” Wall told an audience at the Saskatchewan Agriculture Wheat Summit in Saskatoon. The summit brings together industry stakeholders to discuss Canadian wheat research, variety development, production and marketing.
“It’s time to put wheat back on top again,” Wall said. “Early varieties like Marquis made farming worthwhile in all but the most inhospitable parts of the prairies. It allowed the prairies to become the breadbasket of the British Empire for the next 100 years. It’s time to recapture that leadership, so Saskatchewan can help feed a hungry planet.”
The funding will go toward research projects that accelerate the development of wheat varieties and improve yield, quality and tolerance to disease and extreme weather conditions.
In recent years wheat has become less profitable for producers to grow, relative to other options such as canola and pulses, two crops that weren’t even grown in any significant amount in Western Canada 40 years ago. Yet increasing global demand for food makes it crucial that new investments be made in wheat research.
Wall said wheat has lagged behind other crop staples like corn and soy beans, which have increased in large part due to research and development.
“It is time to focus again on (wheat).”
Besides making good economic sense, Wall said there is a moral obligation to increase wheat production in a world that is increasingly hungry.
“A recent UN report said food production will have to increase by 45 per cent by 2030,” Wall said. “Whea t research and developmen t has to be a key part of that.
“Wheat productivity is increasing at less than one per cent annually while the annual global demand is growing at double that pace. Higher crop productivity is required to close the widening gap between production and demand.”
Gerrid Gust, chair of the western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, said Prairie farmers need the funding to stay competitive.
“If we can’t invest in research, we won’t be competitive and Saskatchewan farmers will be in a lot of trouble,” Gust said, adding farmers, government and the private sector have to work together on producing new varieties with higher yields.
NDP agriculture critic Cathy Sproule (Saskatoon Nutana) said the research dollars are welcome, though she’d like to see some funds spent on other farming issues.
“The research needs to be balanced,” she said. “This research seems to be focused on yield quality, tolerance to disease, things like that. We are concerned about other farming issues, including increased input costs.
“For me, we need research on the impact of the loss of the Canadian Wheat Board or the way it was structured. I think farmers are going to be facing some incredibly difficult transportation issues in the next few years, which will impact farming in Saskatchewan.”
She said the government should also be funding research into organic farming and the sustainability of the small, family farm.
Wall said innovation is key to the province’s future growth.
“We want to build the next economy — the innovation economy — on the strength of what we do well today. And we are very good at agriculture,” he said.
The new wheat-related research funding will be used to partner with public and private research organizations. This funding will be added to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agriculture Development Fund.