Spending public dollars on agricultural research is one of the best investments around, but it is “a hard sell” to some budget-conscious governments, says a spokes-person for a national research planning council.
“Research has provided overwhelming returns to the economy,” said Ralph Christian, executive director of the Alberta Agriculture research division and vice-chair of the Canadian Agrifood Research Council. “It really is a good investment but it is not always an easy sell.”
Christian was commenting on the results of studies done for Agriculture Canada on the “return on investment” Canada has enjoyed from money spent on wheat and potato research.
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Economists working for or hired by the department calculated that when the value of higher yields and reduced losses is considered, the annual gain in additional wheat and potato production and sales amounts to close to $600 million.
Good returns
Over the past 25 years, the $636 million invested in new potato varieties and new disease-resistant strains or new herbicides and pesticides produced returns of $6.1 billion, the studies concluded.
“Modern agriculture has been characterized by continuous productivity and quality increases, the direct effect of technological change,” said a summary of the work. “A large portion of this change has been the result of publicly funded research.”
Christian said as governments look for ways to cut spending and other program priorities compete for limited dollars, it is useful to have evidence to illustrate the benefits to society of agricultural research.
“We have a powerful story to tell, an amazing story,” he said.
Yet the amount of public funds available for research has been falling. Private interests are expected to pay more of the bill and therefore to set more of the research priority.
In return, they expect to enjoy more of the immediate benefits of product development for which they have paid.
“I suppose it is possible that the rate of return for the whole economy may not be as great in future as more of the benefits remain with the companies,” he said.
But Christian also praised the federal matching fund program as an effective way to draw more private money into research, freeing public research dollars to concentrate more on long term projects.
“Still, I know there is a fair bit of concern at the university level and other levels that the more they concentrate on short-term company-driven projects, the less there will be for money for long term projects.”
He said a study to be published this autumn by CARC will suggest that top research priorities should be environmental sustainability, competitiveness and projects to extend the value-adding opportunities.
