The Global Institute for Food Security has renewed a five-year funding agreement with the Province.
The research and development agri-science hub was founded in 2012 as is located at the University of Saskatchewan.
The $15 million dollars in funding will support ongoing operations like crop breeding through sequencing, bioinformatics, data analytic services or technology development that facilitates commercialization of new products.
Steve Webb, the CEO of the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) says the investment will enable collaboration with partners on our market-facing programs, including accelerated breeding, biomanufacturing and policy and regulatory - maximizing Saskatchewan and Canada’s sustainable production of safe and nutritious food for a growing world."
"We sit in the translational space, so we complement the core University, like the Agricultural College and all the knowledge that's being created at the industry. And partner with industry to help bridge the gap and bring invention through the innovation pipeline into the marketplace."
Webb says they've been able to attract the top agriculture research scientists from around the world adding their goal is to get products into the hands of growers at home and around the world.
Agriculture Minister David Marit was on site for the announcement last week.
He says this kind of substantial commitment is fundamental to keeping our agriculture industry a global leader in technology, production and best practices, and the track record GIFS has established proves it.
One project that GIFS was involved in focused on a two-year study that showed Saskatchewan farmers produce some of the world's most sustainable crops. It showed the province had a significantly smaller carbon footprint when it came to the production of five major field crops - canola, non-durum wheat, field peas, durum wheat and lentils - than countries like Australia, the U.S., France, Germany and Italy.
He says having that information and being able to share it with our customers is key.
"The customers are starting to ask how's it growing, where is it growing and what's its carbon footprint? So that's why it was very important for us and the Global Institute of Food Security to do this research. We've quantified it now and it's a great story and we'll continue to tell it."
Marit says investing in research activities undertaken by GIFS and similar institutions is the first step toward enabling Saskatchewan’s producers to not only stay competitive, but proving that they remain among the most productive, innovative and sustainable in the world.
The work being done through GIFS is attracting top agriculture research scientists from around the world to the facility.
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