Grant: Canada Excellence Research Chairs

Global food security is one of the pressing challenges of the 21st century . With the world population anticipated to reach nine billion by 2050 and food production stagnat ing, new approaches are needed to mitigate hunger, malnutrition and rising food prices . The food system has become increasingly complex and food demand cannot be met by simply producing more food . New holistic approaches integrating scientific and policy innovation are needed to produce innovative solutions to the burgeoning food security crisis.The CERC in Food Systems and Security will lead a transformative, multidiscip linary program that will tackle food security challenges by : 1) improving crop production, quality and safety; 2) promoting environmentally sustainable agricultural practices; and 3) addressing societal and econom ic barriers that limit impact of new agricultural technologies . Building on the University of Saskatchewan 's prominent track record for food-related research, their top-echelon scient ists and state-of the-art infrastructure, this multidisciplinary flagship program will bring together biologists, computer scientists, bioinformaticists, engineers, and social scientists The CERC flagship program will introduce new approaches to crop improvement by enabling ""by design"" plant breeding based on revolutionary advances in plant phenotyping, moving plant phenomics into the digital age . Focusing on the plant root system, a critical and underapprec iated aspec t of plant breeding, the program will accelerate plant breed ing far beyond that of current breeding practices, producing new crop varieties with higher yields and greater capacity to thrive in marginal conditions. The CERC will work with farmers and producers in developed and developing worlds to aid in the adoption of these improved crop varieties and novel agricultural technologies .This CERC will position Canada to address food security challenges nationally and internationally, and drive changes in agricultural and food security technologies, pract ice and policy, while training the next generation of scientists in innovative systems approaches to food security problems .