Project contact Weiping Zeng says the project is ahead of schedule. He expects some components of the AI-powered grain grading product to be commercialized in late 2022 or early 2023. "We are currently applying for a license from the Canadian Grain Commission to form a fully licensed AI-powered portable digital grain grading lab that will provide grain grading services in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba," Zeng adds. The third grain-related project is called Field to Glass. This project, led by Grain Discovery, seeks to build an end-to-end digital system that uses blockchain technology to trace Canadian-grown malt barley through every stage of the value chain. "The project's purpose is to provide confidence for consumers so that they know where ingredients are coming from," explains Kreplin. This coincides with CFIA requirements for food traceability and transparency and will provide information to increase public awareness and build trust by educating consumers on the products they buy. Finally, should this initiative succeed, its lessons learned could be applied to provide similar tracking technology to other agrifood products. All three projects meet CAAIN's requirements in terms of improving digitization and automation in Canada's agri-food sector and address Canada's duty to sustainably produce food for the world. As the global population grows to 9 billion, a number it is expected to reach by 2050, agricultural production will need to increase by somewhere between 50 to 70 per cent, says Kreplin. "Our land base is fixed, and as a result of changing climate, our water supplies are predicted to become more scarce," she says. "There's a number of different answers to the challenge of how we're going to feed the world, and one of them is to increase productivity and agricultural yield on the same land base — all while the production either maintains or improves the environment." Canada, she says, has a responsibility to scale up new technology that supports companies that aim to provide food for the world's growing population. "This translates well to an economic opportunity for Canada as well because Canada's ag sector has been slow to adopt emerging technology compared to other jurisdictions," Kreplin says. "We have the good basis to start from as an exporter of food to the world." To learn more about CAAIN's current open funding calls, visit https://caain.ca/fundingcalls/category/open/. l Three Smart Farms, located at Olds College, Lakeland College, and Glacier FarmMedia in Saskatchewan, are involved in CAAIN projects. An Expert Team of Agronomic Advisors, Built to Support Soybean Producers Talk to a Representative Today Cassidy Reaney 613 894-5338 Andrew Hodges 819 208-0787 Jovan Dozet 437 286-7808 ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 25 NOVEMBER 2022
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