The food security of a billion people on the planet is threatened by climate change, increased demand and volatile prices.
In the face of these grave threats, the recent G8 and G20 meetings reaffirmed the need to take urgent action to assure food security for the world’s most vulnerable.
One of the ways of achieving food security is through focused and practical research. The G8 communiqué underlined the key contribution of research in increasing sustainable agricultural production.
Canada has long been a major player in food and agricultural research and now we are expanding our field of research activities.
Read Also
Agri-business and farms front and centre for Alberta’s Open Farm Days
Open Farm Days continues to enjoy success in its 14th year running, as Alberta farms and agri-businesses were showcased to increase awareness on how food gets to the dinner plate.
Canadian and Canadian-funded research is moving beyond the traditional stars of food research – the grains such as wheat, rice and corn – to orphan crops that have been too often overlooked but are of vital importance to the world’s poor.
These orphans include pulse crops as well as millets and a host of other cereal, vegetable and fruit crops.
Pulses were orphan crops in Canada just two decades ago, with low production and receiving minimal research attention.
However, advances in agricultural sciences and a vibrant international market have turned the Canadian pulse sector into a world player.
Canada’s interest in these orphan crops is good news for the world’s hungry, and it is getting support from a $62 million research collaboration between Canada’s International Development Research Centre and the Canadian International Development Agency.
By December 2010, this collaboration, the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund, will have selected up to $30 million in research projects.
It is not surprising that many of the orphan crops, in particular the protein- packed pulse crops, have figured prominently among the research proposals. That follows naturally from the fact that over the past 15 years, Canada has developed into a major player in world pulse markets.
Since the early 1990s, Canada’s production of such valuable and healthy foods has grown by more than 500 percent. In fact, Canada is now the second largest pulse producer in the world.
Most of our peas, beans and lentils are exported, contributing $2.2 billion in export sales in 2009. Canada is the world’s largest single exporter of peas and lentils and a major leader in chickpea and bean exports.
A good part of our success is due to science and research. We have world class crop breeding programs that have led to new varieties, well suited to Canadian climate and soils. All of this has been of great economic benefit to Canadian producers.
But, profits aside, there are many other good reasons for making these orphan crops mainstream.
Orphan crops diversify income and food sources for the poor in developing countries. They are rich in micro-nutrients and, in the case of pulses, a key source of protein that is much cheaper than animal protein.
Pulse crops are staple foods in many regions of the world, including Asia and North Africa. Lentils are a mainstay of the diet in India, for example, accompanying almost every Indian meal.
Many pulse crops grow well in dry conditions and can also provide a hedge against the negative effects of climate change, a major concern in Africa and South Asia, where many of the world’s poor reside.
Planting lentils and chickpeas side by side with grains provides producers with an extra buffer against unpredictable weather conditions, protects fields from soil erosion and improves soil fertility.
Pulse production is declining in the very developing countries that consume them the most and where population is growing the fastest. Unfortunately, there is relatively little plant research in many African and Asian countries. That means farmers have trouble finding good quality seed, difficulty coping with crop diseases and face challenges in maintaining productivity.
Canadian researchers are poised to contribute our experience and knowledge in this field to achieve a more food secure world.
Some may wonder if Canada is shooting itself in the foot by using its science and technology to help others in this way.
When we examine the issue, however, this argument does not hold up to scrutiny. Canada’s niche is high-quality pulses that we sell to the emerging middle classes in rapidly growing economies. Most of the one billion hungry people in the world are not potential consumers of Canadian commercial grain exports. They depend on locally grown crops.
So, we in Canada can do some genuine good at the same time as we do well for ourselves in the pulse sector.
