Farmers will benefit from a partnership between the federal government, industry and universities across Canada to enhance producer profitability through green agriculture technologies.
On Oct. 13, parliamentary secretary Pierre Lemieux, on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, announced spending of nearly $4 million for the University of Guelph to study and develop on-farm tools to help farmers mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and remain competitive in the global marketplace.
“Our government’s top priority is the economy, and Canada’s agriculture industry plays a vital role in keeping our economy strong,” said Lemieux. “This research will lead to new tools and practices to help farmers protect the environment and grow their business.”
The university will use the money to conduct two separate projects. The first will focus on livestock and crop production systems, and will examine new and refined management practices to enhance the dairy sector through improved feeding strategies, resulting in better economic returns.
The second will focus on agroforestry, and look at tree-based inter-cropping, a European agricultural practice that incorporates trees onto the farm to reduce emissions and increase a farm’s profit potential.
“These two projects will go a long way towards helping Canada develop important greenhouse gas mitigation strategies, benefiting farmers and reducing impacts on the environment,” said Kevin Hall, University of Guelph’s vice-president for research. “Partnerships such as the two we are celebrating today are central to our mission of creating new knowledge and value for society. The University of Guelph has a long history of working with government and industry to translate research knowledge into new technologies, products and services.”
Funding is through the agricultural greenhouse gases program, a five-year, $27-million initiative that focuses on the development of on-farm greenhouse gas mitigation technologies. The program provides cash to partners across Canada to investigate innovative approaches to provide solutions for the agriculture sector.
The program represents Canada’s initial contribution to the Global Research Alliance, an international network of more than 30 member-countries that will coordinate and increase agricultural research on greenhouse gas mitigation and make new mitigation technologies and beneficial management practices available to farmers.
For more information on the Global Research Alliance, visit http://www.globalresearchalliance.org/
