Regina – The Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan have announced $19.5 million for an enhanced Pest Biosecurity Program through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
The 5-year Pest Biosecurity Program will be delivered by the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM). Funding is available to rural municipalities and First Nations to provide resources to help deal with invasive agricultural crop pests, prohibited and noxious weeds, nuisance gophers, rats and nuisance beavers.
This program supports education and training to manage agriculture crop pests through the Plant Health Network. SARM employs a full-time plant health technical advisor in each of its 6 divisions who will promote and implement best practices within their division to identify, monitor and assist in the control of invasive and emerging threats to plant biosecurity in agriculture. The plant health technical advisors will be able to help applicants access the Pest Biosecurity Program.
A new Gopher Control Program is part of the Pest Biosecurity Program to help address a significant problem for producers in the province. The program will help control nuisance gopher populations through a rebate for registered control products and for the purchase of materials to build a raptor platform as sustainable integrated pest management.
“Our farmers work hard to produce the high-quality crops and products that Canada and the world are looking for. This investment will strengthen our sector’s resilience by ensuring producers continue to have access to effective pest management tools that are safe for them, for consumers and the environment.” – Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food