AWC announces $175,000 in agronomy-related research funding through Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster

Jul 18, 2018

The Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) is pleased to announce funding commitments of $175,000 over five years through the Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster (ICAC) to five research projects aimed at developing leading edge agronomic practices for farmers.

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay recently announced $6.3 million in funding through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s CAP program to add to ICAC’s total investment of $2.6 million.

“AWC invests in cutting edge research that has the potential to improve crop performance,” said Kevin Bender, AWC Chair. “The goal of our investments through ICAC are not only to strengthen agronomic outcomes but also to increase long-term profitability for farmers.”

Chaired by the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) and formed by cropping groups across Canada, ICAC is a cross-commodity agronomy cluster initiative aimed at encouraging increased investment in agronomy-focused innovation. ICAC takes a whole-farm approach to regional and national needs and long-term sustainability innovation including soil, water, air and economics.

AWC-funded projects through ICAC investment include:

$20,000: Coordinated monitoring of field crop insect pests in the Prairie Ecosystem

$5,000: Prairie Crop Disease Monitoring Network

$50,000: Crop sequence effects on fusarium head blight of cereals

$50,000 Development of decision support tools for Fusarium Head Blight Management in Western Canada

$50,000: Optimizing systems productivity, resilience and sustainability in the major Canadian ecozones

Source : Albertawheat

Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.