Enhancement of the Parkland College Research Farm

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Agriculture is vitally important for the economy of Saskatchewan, especially rural Saskatchewan, currently there is very little research conducted in agribusiness outside of the major centers. Research capacity is extremely important to meet the demands of an industry in the midst of change from external factors such as trade barriers, biosecurity and the need to feed an increasing world population in an environmentally sustainable way. In the east central region of Saskatchewan Parkland College in partnership with East Central Research Foundation, a small producer lead not-for-profit organization, is the only research organization providing producers and industry with independent research opportunities. Together we have started to fill the gap in research capacity to build this cornerstone of our provincial economy. Our plan is to increase our capacity to benefit the agrifood industry and to provide significant experiential and employment opportunities for students at Parkland College. We will increase our capacity by enhancing our small plot work, by adding strip farming capabilities and by significantly increasing the number of student research assistant positions. Students will work as summer research assistants, as part time research assistants during the academic year, and by incorporating the work of the research farm into programming, where appropriate. We currently have a number of small plot trials planned for the next growing season including a project to develop an integrated disease management approach in oats and oat agronomy, a project to compare certified wheat seed against farmer saved wheat seed, a third project will evaluate post emergent applications of nitrogen for increasing wheat protein, this project is part of the 4 R's of Nitrogen management. Other projects will be added through the winter planning season working with many different agrifood industry businesses and organizations.