AAFC announces $11M in funding for Pulse Canada, including $1.6M for McGill's Pulse Breeding and Genetics Lab

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has announced $11 million in new funding for Pulse Canada.

$1.6 million of this investment will go to McGill Department of Plant Science Professor Valerio Hoyos-Villegas' Pulse Breeding and Genetics Lab.

Winnipeg South Centre MP Ben Carr made the announcement at the University of Manitoba on February 9 on behalf of federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay.

The funding is part of the Clusters Component of AAFC’s AgriScience Program, an initiative under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

When combined with the investment from pulse farmers across Canada, Carr said the total investment in the cluster is $21 million through 2028. The goal of the new cluster is to bring industry and the scientific community together to focus on projects that will help pulse farmers boost production and reduce their environmental footprint.

“They’ll do this through things such as fertility strategies that maximize nitrogen fixation, new higher protein varieties that are more productive and profitable for farmers, as well as building disease resistance and resilience against climate change,” said Carr. “All of this will help to increase profits for farmers and help Canada reach our 2030 and 2050 climate targets.”