home news forum careers events suppliers solutions markets expos directories catalogs resources advertise contacts
 
Position Announcements

Career Center
Company index
All Africa Asia/Pacific Europe Latin America Middle East North America
JOB OFFERS
  Topics
All categories
Internships
Academia
Administration
Agricultural economist
Agronomy
Artificial intelligence
Biochemistry
Biodiversity
Bioinformatics
Biologicals & inoculants
Biotechnology
Business analysis
Business development
Cell biology
Communication
Crop advisor
Crop physiology
Crop protection
Customer service
Data science
Digital agriculture
Education & careers
Engineering & Technology
Extension
Farm management
Field operations
Financial
Genome-editing technology
Genomics
Genotyping
Greenhouse operation
Human resources
Indoor agriculture
Intellectual property protection
IT / Software development
Lab operations
Legal & regulatory
Licensing
Lighting technology
Logistics
Management
Marker-assisted breeding
Marketing
Microbiology
Molecular biology
Molecular breeding
Molecular genetics
Operations
Phenotyping / Phenomics
Plant biology
Plant breeding
Plant health
Plant pathology
Plant physiology
Plant tissue culture
Plant transformation
Post-harvest technology
Postdoctoral positions
Product development
Product management
Production
Production research
Project management
Quality assurance
Regulatory
Research
Research engineer
Research station management
Sales
Seed analysis
Seed colorants & polymers
Seed enhancement
Seed health
Seed physiology
Seed processing
Seed science & technology
Seed testing
Seed treatment
Soil science
Statistical Geneticist
Stewardship
Supply chain management
Sustainable ag
Technical services
Training
Trait engineering
Trial management
Vegetable crops
Weed management
JOB SEEKERS
Submit resume

Canada - Farmers for Investment in Agriculture disappointed in Research Council’s decision to cut agriculture



Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Friday, January 14, 2011

Farmers for Investment in Agriculture, a national coalition of over 100,000 Canadian farmers is extremely disappointed in the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s recent decision to drop food and agriculture as a strategic target area.

“At a time when the United Nations is expressing fears of a potential food crisis, countries like Canada have a responsibility to increase their commitment to food production,” says William Van Tassel, vice chair of the Fédération des producteurs de culture commerciales du Québec. “By cutting agriculture from its priorities, the Council seems to be disconnected from the current global reality.”

The United Nations, Forum on Food has said that farmers will need to produce as much food in the next 50 years as has been produced in the previous 10,000 years. The FAO has further identified food production will have to increase 70 percent by 2050 as the world population is expected to expand to 9.1 billion from the current 6.8 billion.

“Canadian farmers are today producing more food with fewer resources than ever before. That’s a good news story because that’s what sustainability is all about,” says Don Kenny, chair of the Grain Farmers of Ontario. “It is new research discoveries and new technology that have made this possible, but with increased world demand, we can only take it to the next level with more and better research.”

This decision taken by NSERC coincides with a tsunami of contributing factors holding back Canadian agriculture research and innovation. At a time when most countries are making huge investments in farming to capitalize on our growing world food demand, Canada has decreased public research funding for agriculture by 40 percent since 1994 and has lost over 10 percent of our research scientists. Farmers for Investment in Agriculture has recently called upon the House of Commons Agriculture Committee to undertake a thorough study of Canada’s agricultural research commitment to determine our ability to keep up with the growing need for innovation in food production.

The Grain Growers of Canada feels the NSERC’s decision will have a long-term and wide-ranging impact. When it comes to innovation in agriculture, it is putting our farmers at a dissadvantage,” says Grain Growers of Canada president Stephen Vandervalk. “The Council controls the agenda for university research funding so this is a real set-back for Canadian farmers. We need more of a competitive edge and that means more research - not less.”

“With increased free trade agreements, new export markets are opening up for Canadian farmers, but this decision deprives us of the tools we need to compete in the global market,” says Allan Ling, Chair of the Atlantic Grains Council. “With the direction the Council is taking, and other coinciding factors, Canada is in danger of losing its agriculture competitive edge. We really need a Canadian vision that looks beyond the next harvest.”

Farmers for Investment in Agriculture (FIA), made up of the Fédération des producteurs de culture commerciales du Québec, Grain Farmers of Ontario, the Atlantic Grains Council, and the Grain Growers of Canada. Made up of over 100,000 farmers, it was formed in 2010 to address the need for greater investment in agronomic research.

Posted from January 14, 2011 until -
SeedQuest reference number: 13931

 
 
Featuring jobs at
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

and many other outstanding employers
around the world


Copyright @ 1992-2024 SeedQuest - All rights reserved 

 
 
 
Also featuring
jobs at
 
 
 
 
 
 
and