Canada Excellence Research Chair in Food Systems and Security

全球粮食安全是21世纪面临的紧迫挑战之一。到 2050 年，世界人口预计将达到 90 亿，而粮食生产停滞不前，因此需要采取新方法来缓解饥饿、营养不良和粮食价格上涨。粮食系统变得越来越复杂，仅仅靠生产更多粮食无法满足粮食需求。需要整合科学和政策创新的新整体方法，为日益严重的粮食安全危机提供创新解决方案。粮食系统与安全领域的CERC将领导一项变革性的多学科计划，通过以下方式应对粮食安全挑战：1）提高作物产量、质量和安全； 2）促进环境可持续的农业实践； 3) 解决限制新农业技术影响的社会和经济障碍。建立在萨斯喀彻温大学在食品相关研究方面的杰出记录、顶级科学家和最先进的基础设施的基础上，这个多学科旗舰项目将汇集生物学家、计算机科学家、生物信息学家、工程师和社会科学家。CERC旗舰项目将通过基于植物表型革命性进展的“设计”植物育种引入作物改良的新方法，将植物表型组学带入数字时代。该计划重点关注植物根系这一植物育种中一个关键但未被充分重视的方面，将加速植物育种，远远超出目前的育种实践，产生产量更高、在边缘条件下生长能力更强的新作物品种。 CERC将与发达国家和发展中国家的农民和生产者合作，帮助采用这些改良作物品种和新颖的农业技术。该CERC将使加拿大能够应对国内和国际粮食安全挑战，推动农业和粮食安全技术的变革，实践冰和政策，同时培训下一代科学家采用创新系统方法解决粮食安全问题。

Global food security is one of the pressing challenges of the 21st century . With the world population anticipated to reach nine billion by 2050 and food production stagnat ing, new approaches are needed to mitigate hunger, malnutrition and rising food prices . The food system has become increasingly complex and food demand cannot be met by simply producing more food . New holistic approaches integrating scientific and policy innovation are needed to produce innovative solutions to the burgeoning food security crisis.The CERC in Food Systems and Security will lead a transformative, multidiscip linary program that will tackle food security challenges by : 1) improving crop production, quality and safety; 2) promoting environmentally sustainable agricultural practices; and 3) addressing societal and econom ic barriers that limit impact of new agricultural technologies . Building on the University of Saskatchewan 's prominent track record for food-related research, their top-echelon scient ists and state-of the-art infrastructure, this multidisciplinary flagship program will bring together biologists, computer scientists, bioinformaticists, engineers, and social scientists The CERC flagship program will introduce new approaches to crop improvement by enabling "by design" plant breeding based on revolutionary advances in plant phenotyping, moving plant phenomics into the digital age . Focusing on the plant root system, a critical and underapprec iated aspec t of plant breeding, the program will accelerate plant breed ing far beyond that of current breeding practices, producing new crop varieties with higher yields and greater capacity to thrive in marginal conditions. The CERC will work with farmers and producers in developed and developing worlds to aid in the adoption of these improved crop varieties and novel agricultural technologies .This CERC will position Canada to address food security challenges nationally and internationally, and drive changes in agricultural and food security technologies, pract ice and policy, while training the next generation of scientists in innovative systems approaches to food security problems .