The Canadian agriculture sector would be more competitive if it embraced technology more quickly, according to an interim report from the Agri-Food Economic Strategy Table.
The table, led by Murad Al-Katib from AGT Foods with members from primary agriculture to food processing, set out five priority themes in its report released last week.
The members said that industry growth has been strong but agriculture needs to boost productivity and scale up capacity, especially if it is to meet ambitious targets of $140 billion in domestic sales and $85 billion in exports.
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They noted Canada has low rates of technology adoption compared to other countries.
“This is a liability; in a very short time, players who do not embrace automation, digitization and other technological advances will simply become non-competitive,” the report said.
The entire value-chain needs to improve and adopt these technologies.
“Doing so demands a cultural shift so the sector sees itself as a technology industry, not a resource industry,” said the report.
Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett said the report identifies the key measures needed to leverage agriculture’s potential.
“We have long supported the call for a co-ordinated, whole-of-government approach to navigate the intense competitive pressures our sector faces,” he said in a statement. “The key themes in the report reflect the issues we hear from farmers and their value chain partners, while articulating clear directions where industry and government can work together.”
The report said Canada’s food producers and processors can’t afford to compete on price alone. It encouraged companies to embrace innovation to maximize value.
It also called for modern infrastructure, a synchronized regulatory system and a focus on areas where Canada has an advantage. The latter requires the entire government to work toward business development and market access.
Finally, the report noted that labour shortages continue to threaten production opportunities.
The agri-food strategy table, and its counterparts in advanced manufacturing, clean technology, digital industries, health/biosciences and clean resources, will now work on targets and action plans.
Report website: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/098.nsf/eng/h_00020.html
