$1 million investment | The potato industry funds a research chair position over a five-year term
CHIN, Alta. — Potato research is expected to get a boost in coming years with the establishment of a research chair in potato science at the University of Lethbridge.
A $1 million investment allocated over five years was announced July 11 by a consortium of partners that includes Potato Growers of Alberta, McCain Foods, ConAgra-Lamb Weston and Cavendish Farms.
Alberta’s potato industry is said to be worth more than $1 billion annually, and PGA chair John Bareman said reductions in research funding at the government level have been a concern since 2009.
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“Over the years, the Potato Growers of Alberta have become convinced that much expertise and research and development opportunities were being significantly decreased,” Bareman said.
“Much of the knowledge and expertise were being lost through attrition.”
Potato research does occur in southern Alberta, but federal potato research is based in Prince Edward Island.
“We have lost quite a bit of expertise in the industry,” PGA director Chris Perry said during a news conference held at Perry Produce, which he operates with his family.
“They’ve moved a lot, federally, away from the agriculture industry and out east.”
The $1 million in funding comes a few weeks after a $5 million donation to the U of L and Lethbridge College by feedlot owner and entrepreneur Cor Van Raay. That money is also earmarked for agricultural research.
U of L president Mike Mahon said he has always felt the institution could do more in the agricultural field, and the two recent funding announcements “illustrate that we are very committed to helping to grow the agriculture industry here in southern Alberta through research and development.”
Mahon said an official university chair is a sought-after academic appointment, and the person selected will require a blend of academic and research experience and the ability to work with the potato industry.
“They’re not a dime a dozen,” he said of potential candidates, so it will be several months before an individual can be selected.
Mahon said he welcomed the opportunities that an established chair will provide to students, who can engage with the potato industry’s growers and processors.
PGA executive director Terence Hochstein said research in entomology and plant physiology is key to the potato industry’s needs.
He expects the new chair to be a potato researcher as well as an academic who will initiate undergraduate and graduate student work in the field.
“The intent is to add to the critical mass of potato research in Alberta and Western Canada to complement what’s already here with regards to Agriculture Canada and ARD (provincial agriculture and resource development),” said Hochstein.
“We look forward to one day when one of our children or grandchildren will have the opportunity to graduate from the U of L with an agriculture degree with a major in potato production.”
