The governments of Canada and Manitoba will invest more than $366,000 in organic grain research at the University of Manitoba. Terry Duguid, Member of Parliament on behalf of Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced this new initiative will be funded through Growing Forward 2 and will help mark National Organic Week, which runs September 17 to 25.
The funding, provided through the Grain Innovation Hub, will be used to replace field equipment used by the university's organic research program, including cultivators for grains, corn and beans, a comb-cutter, manure spreader, seeder and tractor. Governments will also help support two years of organic research at the university, totalling $50,000.
The University of Manitoba is celebrating 25 years of organic research, which began in 1992 with Canada's first study to compare organic and conventional crop production. Since then, researchers have explored many aspects of organic grain agronomy including weed and fertility management, cereal crop breeding for organic production and reduced tillage management.
The Grain Innovation Hub was announced by the Canada and Manitoba governments in May 2014. Its goal is to leverage $33 million in government and industry funding to ensure Manitoba remains a leader in grain research, production and processing.
The federal and provincial governments are investing $176 million in cost-shared programming in Manitoba under Growing Forward 2, a five-year, federal-provincial-territorial policy framework to advance the agriculture industry, helping producers and processors become more innovative and competitive in world markets.
Source : Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada