The University of Guelph has received
$76.6 million from the federal government to start a “digital revolution” in
food and agriculture.
It’s the largest grant the university
has ever received.
The money is for UG’s Food
From Thought research project, which the university says in a news
release “will use high-tech information systems to help produce enough food for
a growing human population while sustaining the Earth’s ecosystems.”
“This will position Canada as a
leader in sustainable food production,” said university president Franco
Vaccarino.
He said it “will help farmers produce
more food on less land using fewer inputs.
“Our faculty, staff and students will
have opportunities to participate in innovative discovery and to play a role in
tackling one of the world’s greatest challenges: how to sustainably feed our
growing population.”
Prof. Malcolm Campbell,
vice-president (research), said “it is not just how much food we produce but
also the way we produce it that will be key in the next century.”
New technology and agricultural
practices must enhance biodiversity, produce safe, nutritious food, and improve
animal welfare and human health, he said.
Geography professor Evan
Fraser, scientific director of Food From Thought and director of U of G’s Food
Institute, said launching a digital revolution will require improved
understanding of the complex interplay between farming practices, the genetic
potential of our crops and livestock, and the environment.
“This is essential if we are to
realize the potential offered by our emerging ability to collect vast amounts
of data and to develop information management systems,” he said.
Some of the pieces of the project are:
• Expanding use of DNA
barcoding technology developed at UG to identify food fraud, food-borne
ailments and invasive pests, and to improve environmental impact assessments;
• Using “big data” on farms to
reduce pesticide use, monitor watershed health and identify crops suited to the
effects of climate change; and
• Using information management
systems to help track emerging infectious disease threats to livestock and
control pathogens in the food supply.
Food From Thought includes
partnerships with academic institutions around the globe, numerous government
agencies, and industry and innovation centres.
One key partner is IBM Canada, which
will be involved in everything from research collaborations to cognitive and
data analytics tools and training to secure cloud-based storage.
Taxpayers can only hope the university can use the money, plus a whack of new funding from the province, to restore its position as one of the world's leading agricultural research universities. It has a lot of work to regain that lost status.