U of M gets funding to boost digital agricultural technology

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This article was published 06/07/2021 (1784 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The University of Manitoba is embarking on two projects to enhance commercialization of in-house research with funding totalling $7.5 million, with more than $3.7 million of it coming from Western Economic Diversification.

The U of M’s faculty of agricultural and food sciences is launching a digital agriculture program whose total project cost is about $5 million.

In addition to non-repayable financing from WED, the program is also being supported by the Western Grain Research Foundation.

Martin Scanlon, the dean of the department, said the investment from the government of Canada and other partners “will ensure today’s students acquire the skills they need to become the innovation leaders in tomorrow’s ag sector.”

Scanlon said the funding — through WED’s Regional Innovation Ecosystems program — will bring digital agriculture technology to the fore that will not only allow producers to seize economic opportunities associated with precision agriculture, “They will also help address the challenges weather and climate change pose to farmers and the sustainability of our food system.”

The program is expected to assist 25 small- and medium-sized companies and bolster Manitoba’s leadership as an emerging digital agriculture centre.

The U of M’s Office of Partnerships and Innovation will administer a $2.5-million Lab2Market program that will help researchers who believe they may have technology that could be commercialized to better understand what the market demand is.

Darren Fast, director of the Office of Partnerships and Innovation, said the program will fill a critical gap in the local innovation ecosystem.

“We have amazing research here at the U of M that can contribute to the betterment of society,” he said. “But there is a gap between the invention of commercializable ideas and the creation of the companies that can capitalize on that.”

Fast’s office will put together a team of scientific and business advisers accounting for about $15,000 worth of services per team to determine the precise market needs.

Among other things, the Lab2Market program, which is already in operation at Dalhousie, Memorial and Ryerson universities, conducts up to 100 interviews with potential end users to validate the commercial potential of the offering.

The idea is that when a clear market focus is determined these new companies would become excellent clients for North Forge Investment Exchange, which would then help develop them into viable businesses.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca