New funding provides path for protein research
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More than $12 million in funding has been committed for crop related research in Saskatchewan.
The announcement was made Wednseday afternoon at the CropSphere Conference in Saskatoon. It was announced that 44 projects in total will receive the funding through Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) and the Strategic Research Initiative (SRI), a new program starting this year with the goal of providing targeted funding. Provincial Agriculture Minister David Marit said the focus of the program will be on increasing the quantity and quality of protein in smooth yellow peas while advancing crop breeding technologies.
“There’s a lot of peas growing here in the province, a lot of yellow peas growing here, that we can probably look at another industry and look at potential for growth for the agriculture community here in the province of Saskatchewan,” he said.
The SRI funding has been awarded to the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Tom Warkentin is with the Crop Development Centre. He said there is increasing demand for plant based protein.
“There are more companies these days that are opening facilties to extract protein and so, to make their industry more effcient, it’s better if the starting material, the peas, have more protein to begin with,” he said.
In addition to the money from the federal and provincial governments, the research projects are supported by the Western Grain Research Foundation, Sask Wheat, Sask Canola, Sask Flax, the Prairie Oat Growers, Alberta Wheat and Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Associations.
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