More than $3.8 million will go towards agricultural research projects in Lethbridge, March 29, 2023. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

$3.8 million announced for agricultural research projects in Lethbridge

Mar 29, 2023 | 1:44 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Agricultural researchers in Lethbridge are receiving funding for a wide array of projects.

The Agricultural Funding Consortium (AFC) has announced a total of $11.49 million in funding for 39 research initiatives.

The largest categories of agricultural products that have funded research projects are crops (mixed) at $5,887,121, wheat at $3,930,834, and pork at $2,559,473.

Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Nate Horner said this funding will have a significant impact on Alberta’s agriculture industry and directly benefit Alberta’s producers and processors.

“This funding will have a significant impact on Alberta’s agriculture industry and directly benefit Alberta’s producers and processors,” said Horner. “It will benefit multiple sectors in every corner of the province, from livestock producers in the north to crop growers and food processors in the south. We share the AFC’s commitment to sustainability, diversification and long-term growth for the agriculture and food industry.”

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A total of $3,803,756 will go towards 12 Lethbridge-based projects at three local organizations:

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Lethbridge: $3,200,318
  • Characterization of abiotic stress tolerant alfalfa genotypes for beef and dairy production in a changing climate – $271,200
  • Understanding the interactions of N fertilizer technologies, fungicides, and the soil microbiome to optimize sustainable agriculture – $425,865
  • Field Sensing Phenocart Data Management and Image Analysis Pipeline Development to Improve Cereal Crops Characteristics – $468,300
  • Development of a mucosal vaccine against the bovine respiratory pathogen Mannheimia haemolytica – $317,000
  • To explore conditions for improving the efficiency of water usage during sanitation – $172,050
  • A high-throughput and non-invasive method to screen nanostructure penetration in plant tissues as part of Smart Crop Technology (SCT) development – $497,921
  • Integration of sequence-based omic and high throughput phenomic data for accelerating plant breeding under changing climate via automated pipelines – $498,700
  • Prairie Crop Disease Monitoring Network: Fostering further network development – $151,896
  • Harmful algal blooms and associated cyanotoxins in Alberta’s irrigation districts: Implications for irrigated crops – $397,386
• Lethbridge College: $353,598
  • Optimizing yield, quality, and power consumption with full spectrum LED lights in greenhouse production systems – $353,598
• University of Lethbridge: $249,840
  • Development and validation of molecular protocols for rapid detection of potato pests and pathogens in Alberta – $200,390
  • Screening potato cultivars for variation in water-use efficiency: use of stable isotope techniques – $49,450

Chair of Alberta Milk Stuart Boeve said investments in basic and applied research is foundational to the continued success of the agricultural and agri-food industries.

He thanked the AFC and the provincial Results Driven Agricultural Research (RDAR) organization for making such significant investments.

“Investment in basic and applied research is foundational to agriculture’s continued success and sustainability”, says Stuart Boeve, Chair of Alberta Milk. “Alberta’s dairy farmers contribute to research annually and see the value in the RDAR model that focuses on investing in outcome-driven projects to continually improve our industry, and all sectors of agriculture here in Alberta and beyond.”

A full funding breakdown is available on the Agricultural Funding Consortium website.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now