The Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) supports the growth of the agriculture industry in Saskatchewan. ADF develops solutions to emerging problems that constrain production and value-added processing.
Funding
$15 million in ADF funding is available annually for public and private researchers.
Eligibility
Any person, business or organization with an idea of practical value to Saskatchewan's agriculture and food industry is encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent. The principal/lead investigator of the project must be a permanent full-time employee of an organization.
Eligible expenses
- Students, postdoctoral fellows, technical assistants;
- Consultant fees;
- Equipment rental;
- Materials/supplies;
- Project travel (conferences, field work, collaboration/consultation); and
- Publication costs.
Ineligible expenses
Overhead costs and equipment are not eligible for ADF funding.
ADF desired outcomes
Proposed research projects must align with ministry and industry priorities. The Ministry of Agriculture's focus for research and development investments is the long-term sustainability of the agriculture sector in Saskatchewan. Therefore, the ministry has taken an outcome- based approach, targeting ADF to achieve the following outcomes:
- New crops and/or cultivars meeting market demands and consumer preferences;
- Increased livestock competitiveness;
- Optimized livestock feeding systems;
- New and innovative food, bioproducts and processing technologies;
- Improved food quality;
- Innovative and sustainable farming systems and practices;
- Enhanced adaptive capacity of the provincial soil and ecosystem resources;
- Utilization of biotechnology to enhance agriculture and value-added production; and
- Decreased agricultural production risks.
In addition to the above mentioned outcomes, the ministry has identified specific outputs and priorities for each of the Strategic Research Program chairs.
Apply
The ADF, is a two-stage application process. The first stage is to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI). Principal Investigators with accepted LOIs are then invited to develop their idea into a full proposal, as part of stage two.
- Letters of Intent: You may submit Letters of Intent between March 1 and April 15. Completed forms must be submitted through the online system.
- Full Proposal: Successful Letters of Intent will be invited to submit a full application proposal. Completed forms must be submitted through the online system.
- Visit the online web portal. New applicants click "Register"; existing users click "Login".
When requesting funding from ADF, where consent is provided, LOIs and applications may be shared with ADF industry partners. Industry partners will have an opportunity to review any LOI/application of interest for potential co-funding and/or technical review.
If you require additional information or if a problem occurs, please contact the ADF Database Administrator at:
Phone: 306-787-5929
Email: ARBonline@gov.sk.ca
Register or login to the ARB portal
Past ADF Research Projects
Go to the Agriculture Research Reports Search page
The Ministry of Agriculture maintains an archive of all ADF funded research projects. Here you can also search for projects funded under the following programs:
- Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) started in 1984 and continues to provide funding for research.
- Agricultural Demonstration of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) started in 2009 and continues to fund demonstration projects.
- Strategic Field Program (SFP) started in 2018 and continues to provide funding for knowledge transfer focused projects.
- Strategic Research Initiative (SRI) started in 2018 and continues to provide funding for targeted research projects.
- Saskatchewan Agri-Value Initiative (SAVI) formerly operated as the Agri-Value Program.
- Beef Development Fund (BDF) was administered by Saskatchewan Agriculture between 1995 and 2004.
- Agri-Food Innovation Fund (AFIF) was administered by Saskatchewan Agriculture between 1997 and 2005.
- Tech Adoption and Demo (TAD) was administered by Saskatchewan Agriculture between 1998 and 2001.