Thank you for the question.
The challenge of meeting a population growth that is expected to reach nine billion by 2050 is significant. Canada is in a unique position right now. Because we have leading-edge agronomic practices, we're making the maximum use of our inputs now, compared to many countries in the world. I mentioned the Kazakhstan-Russia-Ukraine competitors. There's an opportunity for them to increase productivity by just using current leading-edge practices. Canada has to rely on innovation and productivity growth, because our access to further resources just isn't there.
From the primary production point of view, on-farm innovation is going to be incredibly important. That means innovation in terms of agronomic strategies and cropping systems. It means making sure that our farmers have access to the best possible seed technologies, the best possible fertilizers and strategies for fertilizers, and the best possible pesticides that can be applied when required, where required, and in the amounts required, saving the farmer money and protecting the environment.
I think you alluded to the processing sector. In the minister's mandate letter is a commitment by the government to invest in value-added processing in recognition of the fact that I mentioned earlier, which is that the processing sector is an important driver of opportunity and growth for the primary producers. For farmers, the processing sector and its economic health are extremely important, but the processing side is a globally competitive business. We face competitive pressures from our American colleagues in terms of economies of scale, and we face very large-scale competitors globally. The opportunity for investments in value-added processing is significant, and the opportunity for processors to benefit from that will be significant.