The Agriculture and Agri-Food System of Canada (AAFS) is an important component of the Canadian economy. Outdoor agricultural shows have moved from their simple marketplace roots to places that facilitate increased productivity, accelerated innovation and business formation. Central to these functions is the geographic concentration of stakeholders. With the growth in show size, supporting effective […]

This study will focus on an alternative remote sensing method for crop long-term biomass monitoring and prediction of final yield using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based 3D point cloud data in Southwestern Ontario. Currently, biomass and yield are estimated from statistical and crop growth models. However, statistical models are only applicable for specific area or […]

Agricultural pesticides are one of several stressors contributing to the global decline of insect pollinators. More specifically, there is strong evidence of harm from neonicotinoid insecticides. Many jurisdictions are implementing new rules to restrict use of these common pesticides. While regulators have largely focused on reducing pollinator exposure to neonicotinoids, other insecticides also have the […]

Meeting the increasing world food demand is arguably the top priority of the Canadian agriculture industry. Current breeding criteria has increased the number of piglets born/sow/year. However, the lack of a well-rounded breeding program has diminished these effects, as large litter sizes are associated with reduced litter quality, pig performance, and carcass quality. Selecting for […]

Capol Inc works with several natural extracts to produce alternative to synthetic colourants. Research shows that these natural extracts might contain molecules that could be beneficial to human health, predominantly in the families of chemicals that give these extracts their vibrant colours. This project proposes to analyze these extracts with a new depth to determine […]

Soil health and fertility has important long-term implications on farming practices. However, farmers and agronomists have difficulties to integrate soil assessment into farming decisions, mainly due to the tedious and long soil sampling process. This project aims at providing an innovative tool for agronomists and farmers to determine instantaneously and accurately several soil characteristics such […]

Forage nutritive value is a key component of profitable dairy production with forage fiber concentration and digestibility being critical, as high quality forages can reduce requirements for high-cost concentrated feeds. One approach and new technology developed to increase forage quality has been the release of high digestibility/lowlignin alfalfa cultivars, as alfalfa is the main forage […]

In this project, the intern will have the opportunity to work in Perten Instruments Canada and Carbohydrate Chemistry and Utilization Laboratory at the University of Saskatchewan to use the latest model of Rapid Visco Analyzer 4800 (developed by Perten Instruments) to evaluate the performance of resistant starch. The new instrument has the capability to heat […]

Precision agriculture is the technique to replace the traditional farming methods in order to sustainably improve the crop productivity without adversely impacting the environment. Precision agriculture is the solution to our growing food needs. CropPro consulting generates SWAT maps using soil, water, and topography information which divides the agriculture land into multiple zones. Each zone […]

The major goal of this project is to develop a method to improve the production efficiency of cricket farming in the partner organization. Cricket farming has a potential to support the growing global population by serving as a rich source of animal protein. Many start-up companies are emerging, but the limited knowledge and experience in […]

How can we describe and value harvesting, processing and sharing (costs as well as benefits) country foods in economic, nutritional, environmental and socio-cultural terms? How can we compare the value of country food with food that comes from other provisioning systems (e.g. imported/market-based foods and local food production)? These are important questions for both communities […]

Cannabis sativa is a multipurpose crop, providing us with fibers, seeds and medicinal compounds. Its current economic importance will likely drastically increase following its legalization in Canada. However, despite its economic potential as well as its long history of use by humans, we know very little about the evolution of this plant. The purpose of […]