A report presented to Canada’s agriculture ministers last week says the country must step up its investment in research and development if it wants to remain competitive and innovative.
The final report of the Agri-Innovator Committee recommended regulatory reform, a pro-business investment climate, public-private collaboration and the establishment of an entrepreneurial culture.
“The main long-term innovation challenge facing the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector is chronic underinvestment in research and development,” the report said.
It defined innovation as the production of value from the creation and adoption of new technologies, products, processes and business models.
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Canadian ag ministers said they want to ensure farmers, ranchers and processors are competitive through ongoing regulatory reform and business risk management programs that work.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said the ministers discussed just that during their meeting.
“We continued to discuss the importance of innovation based on science, based on research and development,” he told reporters.
He said money allocated to the science cluster has been increased under Growing Forward 2.
He also said he would be looking to the committee to continue its work.
“It was a very fulsome report,” he said. “It actually leads us to more questions and more avenues forward.”
The committee was formed last fall to provide advice specifically on research and development.
In the area of regulatory reform, the committee said the industry views the current system as too slow, unpredictable and expensive.
“Burdensome approval processes hinder Canadian access to more efficient and effective products of innovation — e.g. crop inputs — and discourage private sector investment in Canada,” said the report.
Saskatchewan agriculture minister Lyle Stewart said he and his counterparts discussed the red tape the industry has to deal with when it comes to areas such as crop inputs. He said the standards in Canada and the United States are closely aligned.
“We recommend that the approval process in one country be accepted in the other,” he said.
The committee also recommended that governments adopt “fast-to-market” mindsets so that Canada can be competitive in global markets.
