Industry supporters host food and fuel conference

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

Emerging industries such as biofuels are creating new opportunities and new challenges with respect to the research being done in the agricultural sector.

A number of organizations, therefore, felt it would be timely to have a discussion around the implications these new areas of interest are having on traditional agricultural research. The result of their efforts is the “Food and Fuel” conference, taking place June 4 to 6 at the University of Saskatchewan.

The conference is being hosted by the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society (CAES), the Canadian Agricultural Innovation Research Network (CAIRN) and Knowledge Impact in Society (KIS), a project affiliated with the U of S aimed at helping to increase the connection between science and the public.

Richard Gray, a professor of agricultural economics at the U of S, is involved in both CAES and CAIRN, and is a member of the conference organizing committee.

“We will be looking at the implications [of the new demands for biofuel crops] on agricultural research policy,” he explained. “The additional demands put on agricultural research – including safety, health and environment, to name a few – have pulled resources away from research into increasing yields and lowering costs on the farm.”

If agriculture is going to provide continued food security while addressing the demand for fuel, Gray foresees a need to revitalize productivity growth. “As the world’s population continues to grow, there is significant global demand for products such as biofuel, which, in turn, has created a real need to increase productivity growth in order to avoid a food crisis in the future.”

The answer, according to Gray, is to figure out how to do research more effectively, and to put more resources into agricultural research.

The conference’s organizing committee has assembled a group of speakers from Australia, the United States and Canada to discuss some of these provocative issues.

“We hope there will be a fair bit of time at the end of the seminar for a panel discussion involving some of the major players in the industry, including both the public and private sectors and various funding groups,” Gray said.

Gray feels the Food and Fuel conference will have considerable interest for a broad range of groups, including producers, academics, agricultural researchers, policy-makers and even members of the general public.

By increasing the overall level and effectiveness of agricultural research, not only producers, but society as a whole, will benefit, he said.

Platinum sponsors for the conference are Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Saskatchewan Council for Community Development.

Additional information and registration instructions are available on the KIS website at www.kis.usask.ca. The registration fee is $200 per person.

For more information, contact:
Richard Gray, Professor of Agricultural Economics
University of Saskatchewan
Phone: (306) 966-4026