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Ministry renews key funding partnership with University of Guelph

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

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by DAVE PINK

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has renewed its long-time partnership with the University of Guelph, and other research facilities, with $6.3 million in grants.

 “When research and innovation come together, good things happen: new products are developed and our economy gets stronger – which means better jobs for our families,” said Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin in a news release. “That’s why continued partnerships such as this one, with the University of Guelph, are so important.”

The grants will fund research work at the university’s Guelph, Ridgetown and Kemptville campuses, as well as work being done at the province’s research stations and at other Ontario universities.

Rich Moccia, University of Guelph’s associate vice-president (research), said ministry support is crucial for university researchers. “This investment will allow us to engage researchers at other universities and foster innovations and breakthroughs that will better protect our health, the economy and the environment,” he said in a news release.

The money will be used to continue several projects already underway, including monitoring and managing crop pests. The two projects headed by environmental sciences professor Rebecca Hallett received $277,000, to help develop trapping methods and identification tools for the spotted-wing drosophila, which is known to destroy 30 to 80 per cent of a fruit crop. The other $135,400 grant will focus on curbing swede midge, an invasive pest that damages canola.

Plant agriculture professor Dave Wolyn received $94,700 to study growth and breeding of Russian dandelion plants to develop a Canadian rubber industry. Rubber formed naturally in the plant roots is chemically suited for use in tires and as latex for gloves. Unlike other rubber-bearing plants, this dandelion species also contains inulin, a food additive and feedstock for biofuels that might also benefit growers.

A team headed by food science professor Shai Barbut received $360,000 to continue studies of replacing fat with health-promoting substances in meat products such as hot dogs.

Developing a tool to help decision-makers address new or re-emerging zoonotic diseases passed between animals and humans is the goal of an $80,000 project headed by Jan Sargent, director of Guelph’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses and a professor in the department of population medicine at Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College.

Food science professor Lisa Duizer will use a $109,700 grant to study the addition of nutrients to foods served in retirement and long-term care facilities. She will use a second grant worth $155,124 to develop ways to help consumers make healthier food choices.

Moccia said agriculture and food is one of the province’s leading industry sectors, generating more than $30 billion a year to the economy and employing more than 700,000 people. “Ontario’s agri-food needs could not be met without the expertise, physical capacity and technology development provided via the University of Guelph-OMAFRA partnership,” he said.

The university-ministry enhanced partnership began in 1997 and was renewed in 2008 for 10 years. Besides its social, environmental and health benefits for agriculture and the province, the partnership’s economic impact exceeds $1.15 billion a year, according to a university news release. BF

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