Of course, and again, we have a number of them highlighted here.
One of the challenges we had in addressing the science cluster was—of course, you have 120 crops—how you are going to manage that in terms of defining priorities. We already had some experience working on our food safety program in crop groupings where some things made sense. We had done that in food safety based on risks. We had potato root crop, leafy greens, small fruit, and tree fruit somewhat based on risk. We followed that pattern because we did find it to be very successful. Our members were comfortable with it and already accustomed to working together. We went through deliberations on trying to identify priorities within those crop groupings. Then there were priorities that rose to the top, and projects were submitted. Some were approved and some weren't.
In tree fruit, there are two projects currently on the go. One is advanced post-harvest handling and storage technology for Canadian apples. There are a few details here listed with the objectives. That work is nicely under way right now. One of the newer projects that is under way now—and this is a longer-term one that is going to have a good platform and applicability for a whole host of other crops—is identifying genetic markers to enhance apple breeding in Canada. It's really looking to lay a foundation for a large-scale marker-assisted apple breeding program by collecting genomic data from over 1,000 different apple cultivars. What you have is a filing cabinet of material, as you need to quickly react in the market, whether it's pest disease, consumer demand, etc.—a whole host of things—to move perhaps a bit more quickly to changing variety. Those are a couple.
I spoke on the blueberry piece already and what's going on. That one is quite exciting. It's certainly getting a lot of attention. We have a couple of water projects on the go. Those are really related to food safety. Those are very key. There are some gaps in food safety in terms of the science needed to support programs. Certainly, we very much want food safety to remain--let's keep it to the science and nothing else. Water is an area where there are some universal gaps.
Those are exciting pieces.
With regard to the potato, we have some ongoing work—the late blight, and then now the work on wireworm. The potato is a particularly interesting one in regard to expertise in Canada. With wireworm in particular, the only game in town is Agriculture Canada. All that is to say that we need Agriculture Canada facilities and scientists. Certainly, we have a concern that we see that diminishing. We've heard earlier about how the capacity is being lost. How are we attracting and bringing in new scientists? We very much need the department and its expertise.
Those are just a few. I could go on and on, but I won't.