WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA — Agriculture and Agri-food Canada announced on Nov. 17 that it is providing C$341,000 to support three research projects that support the goals of the Grain Innovation Hub,  a framework announced by the ministers in May 2014 to make strategic investments in grain production, research and processing in Manitoba.

Projects will receive funding from the Growing Innovation - Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (GI-ARDI) and include:

• Validating food substitutes for cholesterol-lowering drugs (TM Therapeutics, C$175,000);
• Measuring whether eating flaxseed can help people with high blood pressure (St. Boniface Research Foundation and the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, C$136,000); and
• Breeding buckwheat varieties with new characteristics and health benefits (ManCan Genetics Ltd., C$30,000).

Project proponents and other stakeholders will also invest more than C$865,700 in these three research projects.

In total, 32 projects have received funding this year through GI-ARDI and more than C$3.2 million will be invested in industry-led research for the crops, livestock, agri-environment and food sectors.