Viterra Inc. will continue investing in crop research despite selling its research division to Agrium Inc.
“Going forward, Viterra will continue to support R&D innovation in Canada,” said company president Kyle Jeworski.
“That’s going to be a pillar of Viterra.”
He said the company has a longstanding commitment to crop research that has resulted in a number of leading canola, flax and wheat varieties.
“Wheat R&D research has fallen behind. I think that’s going to be a key area of focus for us moving forward,” Jeworski told Ag-West Bio Inc.’s annual meeting in Saskatoon last week.
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The company’s research division is in the process of being transferred to Agrium as part of an agreement that will see about 220 of Viterra’s crop input centres change hands. That agreement recently received approval from the Competition Bureau.
It doesn’t mean Viterra is done investing in research. The company will continue to do so through partnerships with research institutions.
“We plan to increase our research and development offerings over the next five years,” said Jeworski. “There will be a number of initiatives that you’ll see come from Viterra in the very near future. We’ll direct funds to leading Canadian research institutes.”
That is music to the ears of Kofi Agblor, managing director of the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre.
“I wasn’t expecting them to actually invest more in research and development, but they are,” he said.
Agblor remembers Glencore Xstrata saying it was going to maintain its commitment to crop research in 2012 when it was buying Viterra.
“I thought it was part of the posturing that those companies make when they’re trying to acquire a business,” he said. “For Viterra to step in and say, ‘we’re actually going to put more money into R&D in wheat,’ is very welcome,” he said.
Garth Patterson, executive director of the Western Grains Research Foundation, said the announcement adds to the momentum building in wheat research.
Multinational seed technology companies are investing in the crop, Sask-atchewan Agriculture recently announced $5 million in wheat research funding, commissions are being established in all prairie provinces and the Canadian Wheat Alliance has been formed.
“Any new investments in wheat are a great sign as far as confidence in the industry that wheat is going to be here to stay in rotations,” he said.
Patterson said it makes sense for a major grain handler like Viterra to ensure wheat remains competitive.
“It’s understandable. They’re in the business of moving tonnes,” he said.
Agblor believes Viterra’s partnership approach is a good one because it’s cheaper to collaborate with an institute like the University of Sask-atchewan that already has all of the land, infrastructure and researchers in place rather than building a new breeding program from scratch.
“By and large, (the university) is a very efficient place to do R&D because of the interplay of all the disciplines.”
