Canada needs to improve spread of agriculture research: report

Canada’s agricultural sector needs to to improve the dissemination of its research results to producers, farmers, industry, academia, consumers and among the research community, according to the Agricultural Institute of Canada’s (AIC) recently released 2016 Conference Report.

The Report sums up a number of key findings, one of which is the fact that research dissemination has often been neglected in past policy development or is left until the end of the project cycle. According to an AIC press release, this needs to change in order to increase stakeholder engagement and allow research results to have a greater impact cross the agricultural sector. Another finding is that the sector needs to come up with new ways to promote and support knowledge transfer activities.

“We are pleased to release the findings of this year’s Conference Report, which reinforce the role of agricultural research, and more specifically demonstrate why dissemination of results and knowledge is key to helping Canada reach its innovative potential,” says Serge Buy, CEO, Agricultural Institute of Canada. “Last year, we broke new ground by releasing Canada’s first-ever agricultural research policy, a long-standing objective for the sector and for AIC. This year, we are continuing our work by raising awareness of the need to better communicate and disseminate agricultural research. We need to collectively ensure that game-changing results have the impact that they deserve in Canada and internationally.”

The Report sums up a broad range of input gathered in policy discussions with researchers, government officials and other industry stakeholders at the annual AIC Conference that took place in April 2016. Later this summer, the AIC will release a more in-depth “Best Practices Report for Research Dissemination” that highlights a number of best practices from across the sector.