The Manitoba government wants to catch up to the leaps its westerly neighbors have made in agricultural research.
Last week, finance minister Eric Stefanson announced the government put $3.4 million into its budget to create the Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative.
Agriculture minister Harry Enns said his department is negotiating with the federal government to at least match the contribution with money from its safety net envelope.
“I’m told that there is upwards to $9 and $10 million available to us in Ottawa,” Enns said.
He explained the federal money is earmarked for safety net companion programs to crop insurance and the Net Income Stabilization Account.
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Saskatchewan also puts some of its companion program money toward research.
“We look with some envy … at the success story of Saskatoon,” Enns said.
The dean of the agriculture faculty at the University of Manitoba said the government took a big step in catching up with Saskatchewan, which has more than $14 million in its fund, and Alberta, with more than $7 million.
“All you have to do is look at the development of the research machine that’s been built up at the University of Saskatchewan: their Innovation Park, the number of biotech companies they’ve been able to attract, the new developments that are coming out of the crop research centre,” Jim Elliot said.
University has hopes
“I hope that some of this money will be used to allow us to get out there and attract industrial dollars into the university.”
A spokesperson for Manitoba’s farm lobby group said he was pleased to hear the government will spend some money on research.
But Don Dewar said he was surprised it will be matched with safety net money.
“We’d like to see it matched, but somehow I don’t think it should be matched out of the safety net envelope,” Dewar said.
“I suppose it’s better to use it than lose it … but I really think if there’s extras in the safety net, we should look at ways to improve our programs.”
Dewar said the new Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council should play a role in helping decide how the money will be spent.
Enns said he hasn’t determined how the fund will be run, but the council could perhaps put some of the more than $4 million it recently received from the federal government toward the research fund.
