I'm speaking about research and extension and evaluating technologies.
Our research and extension need to empower farmers and provide them with techniques and tools to farm better, to be more resilient, flexible, responsive, and productive. We need educated, professional, and experienced farmers today and 30 years from now, and we need more of them if we are going to feed our growing populations. We need to ensure that our most productive farmlands around the world are in the stewardship of sustainable farmers. We need resilient agriculture that can weather the existing and increasing climate-related and pest events, as well as the ups and downs of markets, trade, and public or political preferences.
The best way to do this is not to put all of our eggs in one basket. I would caution against reliance on the biotech or any other profit-centred industry to come up with the innovative and useful technologies, when they are not necessarily connected to the public interest; nor are they necessarily connected on the ground, as the farmers are, in each different geographic region. We need more people involved, more research institutions, and extension infrastructure that engages our farmers in defining priorities and sharing their knowledge here in Canada and around the world.
Thank you for your time and all the efforts that you have taken in this study.