Manitoba’s place as a national leader in grain research, production and processing will be enhanced through three research projects funded under Growing Forward 2. This announcement was made by Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn.
“Investing in advanced research and innovation will ensure future prosperity for Canadian farmers and processors,” said Minister Ritz. “These projects will explore the attributes of a wide range of crops from buckwheat to flaxseed and focus on the health benefits for consumers in a global market.”
These projects will receive $341,000 and support the goals of the Grain Innovation Hub, a framework announced by the ministers in May 2014 to make strategic investments in grain production, research and processing in Manitoba.
“Innovation drives Manitoba’s grains sector from seed to farm to customer, creating jobs in the province and supporting our economy” said Minister Kostyshyn. “Through the Grain Innovation Hub, strategic investments will cement Manitoba’s place at the forefront of the grains industry in Canada and around the world.”
Projects will receive funding from the Growing Innovation – Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (GI-ARDI) and include:
- validating food substitutes for cholesterol-lowering drugs (TM Therapeutics, $175,000);
- measuring whether eating flaxseed can help people with high blood pressure (St. Boniface Research Foundation and the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, $136,000); and
- breeding buckwheat varieties with new characteristics and health benefits (ManCan Genetics Ltd., $30,000).
“Manitoba-grown and processed oats, pulses and other healthy ingredients can help people living with high cholesterol,” said Lee Anne Murphy, director of TM Therapeutics, a joint project of StepOne Foods Canada and the Manitoba Agri-Health Research Network Inc. “There is currently no practical, easy-to-use and tasty way for consumers to add these products into their daily lives. With support from GI-ARDI, we are evaluating a food-based alternative therapy for almost 20 per cent of the population who can’t tolerate statin drugs, which is currently the most widely prescribed treatment for people with high cholesterol.”
Project proponents and other stakeholders will also invest more than $865,700 in these three research projects.
