Ottawa [Canada], March 7: The Canadian federal government said Wednesday it will drive innovation in wheat sector to improve production.
At the 2024 Canadian Crops Convention, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said in a news release it will provide up to 11.2 million Canadian dollars (8.3 million U.S. dollars) in funding while ensuring profitability and sustainability.
The investment will be used to explore the best management practices and new genomics tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate breeding, and increase wheat production resilience in response to evolving threats like pests and diseases associated with climate change, the release said.
The majority of wheat produced in Canada is exported and between 2014 and 2023, 60 percent of Canadian wheat and durum was exported, the release said.
In 2023, Canada was the third largest wheat exporter and the largest durum exporter globally, exporting 9.5 billion Canadian dollars (7 billion U.S. dollars) in wheat and 6.1 billion Canadian dollars (4.5 billion U.S. dollars) in durum respectively.
Source: Xinhua