Ontario field crops also are major exports. In order for crops like these to remain competitive in world markets, it is necessary to continually increase the efficiency of production. In order to maintain the viability of agriculture in Ontario, the efficiency of production, the quality, safety, and marketability of all these crops need to keep improving. That's what agricultural research is all about. There is one further message.
Intensive agriculture preserves wildlife, woodlots and recreational areas.
Unless agricultural productivity keeps increasing, these valued resources will disappear. The public sector funding of field crops research has been shrinking. The industry itself and particularly producers, have been assuming a larger portion of the costs of research, even though consumers are the major benefactors. Core Research Shrinking public-sector funding has resulted in a rethinking of crops research, to define what is essential. This is listed here, briefly, and described in more detail in Section 10, along with the crop committee explanations of why these are the core areas in Section 12.