Canada’s national pulse growers’ and processors’ body has picked up seven-figure federal funding for crop and nutritional research and market development.
Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Thursday pledged $7 million for Pulse Canada to spearhead a “research cluster” of over 100 industry, government and university scientists to develop improvements in pulse crop productivity, nutrition and rotational benefits to other crops.
“This research will help identify new and innovative ways of processing and using pulses that will help grow new market opportunities and the bottom line of Canadian pulse growers,” the government said in a release.
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Another $1.3 million also goes to Winnipeg-based Pulse Canada for work on a “targeted market development strategy to build and support new demand for pulses around the world.”
That includes developing access strategies to build opportunities for new uses for pulses, as well as ensuring “competitive access” to world markets.
Over 75 per cent of Canada’s pulse crop production, which includes peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas, is exported to over 150 countries, accounting for a 40 per cent of the global pulse market, Pulse Canada noted.
Funding for these projects is subject to their meeting all eligibility requirements and the signing of contribution agreements, the government said.
The research cluster support will flow through the federal Agri-Science Clusters initiative, within the federal/provincial Growing Forward ag funding policy framework.
“This funding will allow us to foster innovation through research on everything from pulse production to increased utilization in food products,” Pulse Canada chairman Barry Grabo said in a separate release Thursday, “and it will help us ensure competitive market access for Canadian pulses in markets around the world.”
The federal funding “will also allow us to be more proactive in identifying market access risks and developing strategies to deal with those risks before they become major issues,” Grabo, a pulse crop grower from Strathmore, Alta., said in Pulse Canada’s release.
“By addressing market access issues, the industry-government partnership will help keep doors open for Canadian exports.”
Ultimately, the funding “will help the pulse industry get more consumers putting pulses on their plates and more international buyers bidding on Canada’s high-quality pulse crops,” Ritz said in the government’s release.
