NRC works with partners in industry, government and academia to increase the competitiveness of Canada's agricultural sector. By helping to develop new traits for sustainable agriculture and value-added agricultural products and applications, NRC Agriculture stimulates entrepreneurship among large and small industry players.

NRC supports Canada's agriculture industry, offering valuable infrastructure and in-depth expertise that increases the industry’s capacity to innovate. As populations grow and land availability becomes increasingly in demand, NRC is committed to working with agricultural companies and other organizations to capture the emerging opportunities of today’s bio-economy.

NRC’s vision is to double the productivity of targeted crops—canola, pulses, flax, to name a few—and increase the value of Canadian agricultural output by developing value-added products and applications. Integral to NRC Agriculture’s activities is an overarching goal to increase industry’s capacity to innovate.

Industry snapshot

Canada's $87.9 billion agriculture industry contributes 8.8% of the country’s GDP and employs 2.1 million Canadians. With 5% of the world’s available land, Canada is the fourth largest exporter of agricultural and agri-food products.

In the coming decades, the global agriculture industry will be called upon to increase its productivity substantially, while also increasing biodiversity. With the world’s population expected to increase to 9 billion by 2050, the industry must optimize its processes to respond to several anticipated challenges:

Demand for food will increase by at least 70% worldwide by 2050
Developing countries will increase cereal imports by 157% by 2030
Oilseed contribution to world calorie consumption will increase by 125% by 2030

Research services

NRC assists the agriculture industry in its overarching goals by providing extensive client services in key research areas:

We perform plant biotechnology contract research services to the exact specifications of our partners through fee-for-service contract arrangements.

We also engage in collaborative R&D projects, to which all parties generally contribute resources. These collaborative projects can vary in terms of scope and duration.

NRC Agriculture's services include plant genomics and bioinformatics, transformation technology, haploidy and tissue culture. Partners and clients can access these services through fee-for-service arrangements or as part of larger scale collaborative agreements.

Video

Learn more about NRC's agriculture solutions.

Technology platforms

NRC Agriculture also strives to provide its clients and partners with flexible access to its key technology platforms and facilities.

State-of-the-art facilities

NRC Agriculture leverages its extensive research facilities as it collaborates with large and small companies, research organizations, universities and individual researchers. Our infrastructure includes: