Strategic Research Initiative (SRI)

Applicants

The lead applicant (principal investigator) must hold a firm academic position as a permanent full-time employee of a Saskatchewan university or a research institute. The principal investigator needs to have the ability to train students and post-doctoral fellows during the project period.

Proposals from out of province principal investigators with Saskatchewan collaborators will also be considered if the outcomes of the proposed project benefit the Saskatchewan agriculture and agri-food sectors.

Eligible expenses

• Salaries for students, postdoctoral fellows, technical assistants;
• Consultant fees;
• Equipment rental;
• Equipment purchase: will be approved case by case. Requires a strong justification in the application;
• Materials/supplies;
• Project travel (conferences, field work, collaboration/consultation); and
• Publication costs.

Overhead costs are not eligible.

2025 Theme: Long-term management plan for herbicide resistant (HR) weeds

We’re inviting collaborative, multi-disciplinary, cross-institutional research teams to submit research proposals for the 2024 SRI.

This year’s research proposals need to focus on a collaborative research approach combining different areas of expertise in weed science including weed biology, ecology and agronomy to accelerate development of a sustainable solution for HR weeds in the Saskatchewan cropping systems focusing on kochia and wild oats.

The proposed projects must address all of the following research streams:

• Develop novel, economical, environmentally sustainable and producer adoptable integrated strategies to manage and control HR weeds in different cropping systems focusing on reducing the reliance on chemical herbicides, controlling weed seed movement, soil seed bank and breaking HR mechanisms.
• Develop new tools for efficient detection of HR weeds and their surveillance.
• Develop models for herbicide resistance to evaluate biological, agricultural and economic performance of different management strategies and identify the optimal combination of best management practices for long term, economically viable and environmentally sustainable HR weed control in different cropping systems.

Proposals must provide strong justification and context for the work proposed. It must demonstrate the novelty of the proposed work and show how it will build on current knowledge to fill existing knowledge gaps and provide practical solutions for long term management of HR kochia and wild oats.

Proposed projects must clearly articulate the value-proposition, expected outcomes and how they will support the growth of the Saskatchewan agriculture and agri-food sectors.

The call for SRI research proposals is a two-stage process.

1. Letter of Intent (LOI): Submission of LOI that provides an overview of the proposed project. LOIs are due on April 15, 2025.
2. Full application stage: Only successful LOIs will be invited to the full application stage. Full applications are due on September 22, 2025. Funding decisions will be communicated to applicants in December 2025.

Submission of Letters of Intent (LOI)

Applicants are requested to consult with Dr. Harsha Marambe, Senior Research Specialist, Agriculture Research Branch (306-787-2522; harsha.marambe@gov.sk.ca) on development of proposals or for further information.

SRI is a two stage process: a call for letters of intent (LOI); and full applications. The call for LOIs were released in January. The LOIs and full applications need to be submitted to arbonline@gov.sk.ca by the deadlines specified above.

For more information, contact the Agriculture Research Branch.