U of S hosts Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre symposium

The event will take place at the Delta Bessborough Hotel June 20-22 in Saskatoon.

P²IRC is a multidisciplinary research centre at the U of S, created to transform plant breeding through powerful new techniques using computers and image acquisition. The centre is managed by the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) and was established in 2015 with $37.2M in funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF).

The symposium will feature a diverse range of speakers from Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Colombia. Plenaries will include discussions on state-of-the-art technologies in digital and computational agriculture and digitized plant breeding, and transdisciplinary approaches to common research goals, including engaging in mutually productive and enduring relationships with our industry stakeholders. Project leaders will present emerging P²IRC-related technologies that will transform seed and plant breeding or large area crops essential to global food security, such as wheat, canola and lentils. The event will be rounded out with a workshop on common data standards for phenotyping to foster more effective international collaboration.

The event will be attended by academics, researchers and students funded by P²IRC, international collaborators, industry research leaders and representatives from local and national agricultural producer groups.

The program is available at: 2nd Annual P2IRC Symposium

For information about the symposium, please contact gifs-p2irc@usask.ca.

For more information, contact:

Maurice Moloney
Executive Director and CEO
Global Institute for Food Security
306-966-3701
gifs-p2irc@usask.ca


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About the Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre (P2IRC)

P²IRC combines the sciences of plant bioinformatics and genomics with crop phenotyping (the identification of useful traits) through the use of advanced image acquisition technologies, high-performance computing, and impactful socioeconomic analyses. By 2022, P²IRC intends to create a unique global resource for plant breeders seeking to develop new crop varieties at an unprecedented speed and scale.

Technologies and expertise developed at P²IRC will elevate Canada’s position as a global powerhouse in agricultural research and lead to commercial spin-offs involving field and aerial sensors, satellite imaging, robotics, and big data analytics.

P²IRC’s seven-year innovative research and training program, Designing Crops for Global Food Security, will transform crop breeding and provide innovative solutions to national and global food security. The program builds upon GIFS’ focus on computational agriculture to enhance the U of S biosciences cluster—one of the largest clusters of food-related researchers in the world.

About the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS)

The Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) performs discovery research to deliver transformative innovations in agriculture in both the developed and the developing world. To address these issues, GIFS’ research is focused on three areas: Seed and Developmental Biology, Root-Soil-Microbial Interactions, and Digital and Computational Agriculture.

GIFS was founded as a public-private partnership among PotashCorp, the University of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Saskatchewan. It is the home of leading researchers and has attracted over $100M in funding to date.

Visit www.gifs.ca for more information.

About the University of Saskatchewan

Set in an architecturally stunning century-old campus in Saskatoon, the U of S is the core of a dynamic research hub working to address critical challenges faced by people locally and around the world. World-class research centres on campus include global institutes for food and water security, the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, the Crop Development Centre, and the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac), plus an impressive array of national and provincial bio-science research labs. With stellar research teams and annual research income of more than $200 million, the university has earned a place among the U15 group of Canada’s top research universities. More information is available at: www.usask.ca