When canola specialist Phil Thomas tells farmers he’s flying to a third world country to teach them how to grow canola, Canadians hit the roof.
“They say ‘why the heck are you going over there to teach them how to grow canola, especially with the price’,” laughs Thomas, Alberta Agriculture’s canola specialist in Lacombe.
“I get clobbered on this quite a bit.”
For Thomas, the trips are part humanitarian and part of his own continuing education on canola.
What he explains to farmers is most of the countries he works with are oil-deficit. They don’t grow enough oil for their own domestic needs. When they import oil, it’s usually inferior palm oil.
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By working to establish a canola industry, Thomas hopes to help the local people and introduce canola as an oil alternative.
“It puts canola on the shelf and the table. Once they know it’s a real good product, they start demanding it,” he said. “It has long-term potential.”
While farmers understand Thomas’ rationale, some aren’t convinced it’s good for them.
“With low prices they don’t want anyone else growing it.”
Thomas flew to the war-torn country of Sri Lanka last week with a Canadian International Development Agency project to look at the possibility of establishing an oilseed industry.
Only a few days before his scheduled departure he still didn’t have his itinerary or contract. It’s not uncommon with these trips to leave Canada without a clear goal, he said.
He wasn’t sure what would happen when he landed in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, for the three-day trip.
He expected to spend most of his time talking to government officials, looking at maps of the mountainous regions that may have a suitable canola growing climate, and being briefed on the agriculture industry.
The original rapeseed plants from which canola was developed originated in the Mediterranean, but most canola is grown in the far northern or southern hemispheres, away from the equator. Canola likes cool weather, but excellent crops do grow only 25 degrees from the equator as a winter crop.
In February he travels to Iran as part of the United Nations International Centre for Dryland Agriculture group, also to look at the possibility of establishing an oil-growing industry.
Thomas goes on these trips because he feels he makes a difference. In previous trips to India, Poland and China, his recommendations have resulted in increased of canola production.
He stresses the use of certified seed for improved yields. In India, the National Dairy Development Board that he worked with established certified seed-growing farms in one of the most prolific farming areas of India. Some farmers were growing seed varieties 25 years old that didn’t match modern oil and meal requirements.
“It was quite an increase in production for them.”
For most of the trips, Thomas takes a leave of absence from his Alberta Agriculture job. While traveling to trouble spots with limited resources is not a vacation, he does come back refreshed.
“It gives you a different perspective on how canola grows in difficult conditions.”
