AGRI-FOOD EQUITY FUND INVESTS IN CANADIAN SELECT GRAINS LTD.

Released on January 30, 1997

Agriculture and Food Minister Eric Upshall today announced the
Agri-Food Equity Fund will invest up to $500,000 in Canadian Select
Grains Ltd. of Eston.

Canadian Select Grains Ltd., owned and operated by about 90 shareholder
farmers, grows and processes pulse crops in the Eston area. With the
new investment from the Agri-Food Equity Fund, the company plans to
de-hull and split brown desi chickpeas to produce chana dhal, a food
product popular in East Indian and Pakistani cuisine.

"Australia is the only other major exporter of chana dhal," Upshall
said. "Canadian Select Grains Ltd. has done the market research and
has demonstrated its initiative in identifying a new market for its
product. The Agri-Food Equity Fund is pleased to do business with
Canadian Select Grains."

Upshall said the Fund adds value to agriculture through partnerships
with Saskatchewan agriculture and agri-food businesses and is an
important component of the Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food mandate to
diversify the industry. Upshall added this investment in Canadian
Select Grains Ltd. is also an investment in rural Saskatchewan.

Canadian Select Grains' President, Gary Schweitzer, says the Agri-Food
Equity Fund's investment will help to construct the chickpea splitting
facility.

"The completion of this facility will be an important step in
developing our local economy," Schweitzer said. "We will now be able
to provide a market and add value to chickpeas, thus creating a
valuable cropping option for our grower shareholders."

Canadian Select Grains Ltd. is the sixth investment made by the
Agri-Food Equity Fund since it was established in 1994. The Government
of Saskatchewan committed $20 million over a period of five years for
the expansion of the value-added sector of the agriculture and food
industry. About $17 million remains to be invested over the next four
years. Each investment carries a maximum eight year term. Revenues
generated from investments are returned to the fund for re-investment
in further value-added opportunities.

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For more information, contact:

Jim Babcock
Agri-Food Equity Fund
111 Research Drive
Saskatoon
Phone: (306) 933-7021