BANFF, Alta. — There could be an appetite for private investment into wheat and barley research.
The federal government has designated funds for research under the Canadian Agriculture Partnership, but industry is also expected to contribute money.
There is room for private contributions, said Holly Mayer of Agriculture Canada’s science and technology division.
“One of the mechanisms that we are looking at to try and get more private sector involvement in breeding is partnerships in all aspects of the breeding continuum,” she said at the Prairie Barley Summit in Banff Dec. 7.
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“In wheat breeding we would like to move our resources upstream over time. It doesn’t mean we are going to abandon variety development quickly, but we need other players to come in and take that space and add some competition,” she said.
A working group has been looking at value creation and that is one way to encourage more private investment. The government has considerable resources in germplasm for wheat and barley breeding that could be shared.
“There needs to be an incentive for the private sector companies to come,” she said.
“We want your sector to be competitive. We don’t want to be seen holding back programs or putting out varieties that are not going to be adopted.”
The discussion has been taking place since the end of the Canadian Wheat Board, said Tom Steve, general manager of the Alberta barley and wheat commissions.
“There was always an expectation there might be an environment for more private investment,” he said in an interview.
“I think there is certainly in wheat. It is more tentative in barley.”
Private companies want to invest in large acreage crops. Wheat acreage is available, but barley plantings have been declining for more than a decade.
Universities and government now handle wheat and barley breeding. Private companies may be interested if there was a good return on investment.
Barley and wheat are biologically different from corn and oilseeds such as canola and soybeans, where considerable work has gone on.
“It is harder to create a distinctive trait in wheat or barley than it is soybeans or canola,” Steve said.
The new partnership goes into effect April 1, 2018, and replaces the Growing Forward program. However, the framework is similar with industry participation through research clusters.
Mayer said the CAP offers a $3 billion investment over five years to expand markets. Science and innovation is one of the priority areas.
There will be federal-only programs as well as cost sharing agreements.
The science clusters continue to address priority themes that are national in scope. The deadline to apply for the next round of clusters is Feb. 1, 2018. Applications for smaller projects will be accepted at a later date.
Clusters are the model for federal research programs. They are unique because the commodities identify research priorities that are implemented by government or academic scientists.
“We as government looked to you as industry to tell us what your research priorities are,” Mayer said.
Cluster research outcomes have greater relevance for the industry and have led to increased adoption by producers. They are expected to build scientific collaborations, advance research and provide industry benefits.
