The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bebeau, made the announcement Monday morning at Bergerie Malvibois in Sawyerville.
To achieve such a result, the Canadian government is relying on artificial intelligence, which will make it possible to collect important data on alfalfa.
In total, nearly $1 million will be used to improve alfalfa productivity thanks to artificial intelligence. The tool will identify agronomic, climatic and biological factors likely to affect alfalfa yield
The ministry said in a press release.
Another $1 million is being spent developing a tool to assess and improve alfalfa’s winter survival rate, again using artificial intelligence.
What is alfalfa
Alfalfa is a perennial herbaceous plant that belongs to the legume family and is grown as a forage plant. It is the most cultivated vegetable for livestock production in Canada.
Source : Canadian Encyclopedia (A new window)
Producers also use alfalfa to capture and fix carbon, according to the Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Food. This would allow farmers and breeders to pollute less during their production.
Another part of the investment, more than $600,000, is aimed at allowing producers to sell carbon emissions credits.
This means that a product with less pollution than it is authorized can resell this unused pollution to another company, making it possible to diversify its sources of income.
Agricultural producers are very sensitive to climate change. They are the first to suffer from the effects of the vagaries of the weather. They are also the first to care about soil and water quality protection to ensure the sustainability of their family farm.
According to Compton Member Stansted and Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, this investment is very important for the region. When family farms do well, when they are economically efficient, they create more investment in our region, and drive our regional economy, so everyone sees an advantage.
She said.
Minister Bebo gave the example of the Malvibois sheep pen, which produces sheep. The sheep pen will serve as a data collection site for the project. They see a significant advantage in increasing the productivity and quality of these forage plants.
, I explained.
