The University of Manitoba will soon be home to a unique $3.8 million grain handling and storage research centre.
The new 15,000 sq. foot centre will include a full-sized multiple-bin grain handling system, as well as equipment agricultural engineers might require for work in the area, said Digvir Jayas.
The federal government’s Canada Foundation for Innovation will provide $1.525 million for the project. Other sources have yet to announce additional funding.
Jayas, head of the agriculture faculty’s department of biosystems engineering, said the money reflects on the award-winning research done by staff and students.
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“I personally believe we are already the best in the world in this area,” said Jayas.
The research centre will attract top researchers in the field of grain storage and handling, said Jayas.
“This is the place they would want to be.”
Researchers in the department now use laboratory and scale-model bins. The new centre will make it easier for engineers, entomologists, chemists and economists to work together to solve handling and storage problems.
Jayas said the centre will be running within two years.
Research at the new centre will include:
- New strategies and systems for near-ambient drying and aeration.
- New systems for heated air drying, including the use of microwave and infrared drying.
- Machine-vision systems to help clean grain and monitor quality.
- Strategies to prevent and destroy insects in stored grain.
- New equipment for dehulling pulses.
