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1.Overview

 

 Through the process of developing sector strategies, Genome Canada and the six regional Genome Centres recently brought together industry, academic, and government representatives in order to map out how the sectors could further benefit from the transformative power of genomics and related disciplines and so make a larger contribution to the Country’s economy and well-being of Canadians. Building upon the input from the Agri-Food1 and Fisheries and Aquaculture2 sector strategies, Genome Canada is seeking proposals for large-scale research projects that on the application of genomics3 in the agri-food and fisheries/aquaculture sectors to address challenges and opportunities related to global food safety, security and sustainable production4, and thereby contribute to the Canadian bioeconomy and well-being of Canadians.

 

The impending increases in the world’s population and the corresponding increased demand for food against a backdrop of increasing climate variability that will have profound impacts on the productive capacity of both the oceans and agricultural lands is a major challenge for humanity in the 21st century. Presently nearly 1 billion of the world’s population are chronically undernourished. Population growth will continue to increase in regions of the world that lack the potential to implement major s in food production. Canada’s aquaculture and agricultural sectors have important opportunities to be part of the solution to the global challenge of food security since Canada has a privileged supply of fresh water, unpolluted oceans and productive farm lands. The projected doubling of world food demand by 2050, as well as an increased demand for high quality protein (fish and meat) will require an unprecedented increase in productivity and more effective delivery systems that reduce food waste and spoilage to meet the global demands for food security, food safety and sustainable production. To date the world has largely relied on traditional food production practices to increase productivity. For example, the green revolution through ion and management practices resulted in India and China becoming self-sufficient in wheat. However, the traditional practices of species improvement is moving towards the top end of the well-known S-shaped improvement curve and while increases in productivity will continue to be realized, they will not meet the required 3-5% increases in productivity a year to address the global food security challenge. The knowledge of the genetic make-up and gene functions of plants, livestock, fish and other species, and how these genes interact, has been increasing dramatically over the last 10 years. The application of this knowledge to agricultural and aquatic productivity has been largely untapped, as well as the potential applications related to better tools for assuring food safety and sustainability of production. Genomics and genomics-related technologies in both the agri-food, and fisheries/aquaculture sectors can play a strong role in supporting and enhancing food safety, security and sustainable production both in Canada and globally and Canada is well positioned to be a global leader in providing solutions in this area.

 

Canada’s agri-food and agriculture sector is one of the foundations of the national economy, accounting for just over eight per cent of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and directly employing 2.1 million people in 2011. The sector is a major driver of exports, valued at $40.3 billion in 2011. In addition, commercial (sea and freshwater) fisheries, aquaculture and processing contributed $6.4 billion in outputs (landings, production and processing), over 80,000 jobs and $3.9 billion in exports in 2010 with a positive trade balance of $1.5 billion to the Canadian economy.

 

A country such as Canada with its well-developed research infrastructure and large scale investments in genomics is now ready to move to the next steps and be a world leader in the application of this science to food production, food safety and sustainability of our food systems. Continued investment in advances enabled by genomics will position the agri-food and fisheries/aquaculture sectors to seize the aforementioned opportunities. It is recognized that the challenges facing the agri-food and fisheries/aquaculture sectors are global in nature and that the solutions can be facilitated by international collaborations.

 

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