Canada’s agriculture sector investing in Ai technology Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence are encompassing nearly every imaginable area in the industries. Protein Industries Canada has called for a $10-million Canadian dollars fund to focus on Ai projects to improve the quality of plant-based food sector. AI is going to be used to accelerate the commercialization of new plant-based ingredients and food, which in turn will help Canada’s plant-based food industries become even more sustainable. Protein Industries Canada Funding This expanded call for projects is part of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The main goal is to make farming more efficient and productive. Main aspects of the call for projects: Focus on the entire agriculture and food value chain. Investment in Ai projects that benefit the plant-based and agriculture food sector. Synergetic transformation through associated companies of two or more partner corporations utilizing Ai to help grow Canada's plant-based food and ingredients ecosystem. Focusing on reaching over $24 billion CAD in global plant-based sales by 2025. Protein Industries Canada funding intends to be investing of around $30 million into Ai-based projects. This amount will be distributed depending on the proposed scope and impact of each project. The call for projects will be open to all solicited as well as unsolicited proposals, and PIC may issue specific calls for projects to fill specific needs. Ai cannot be overlooked PIC believes in revolutionizing the plant-based sector’s efforts to meet the ever-changing consumer demands and expectations. With ever-growing usage of Ai, it seems this technology cannot be left unnoticed in covering the consumer demands and expectations. It is because Ai plays a crucial role in optimizing various aspects of plant-based food production, including texture, taste, and sustainability of the final produce. Various reasons why taking advantage of Ai seems to be essential in the plant-based sector: Optimizing the extrusion processes: Ai-powered tools like GreenProtein help plant-based manufacturers improve the texture and taste of their products by enhancing extrusion processes. Simulating extrusion processes: AI models aim to simulate the extrusion process, allowing for more predictable and efficient production, and ultimately enhancing the quality and sustainability of alt-meat. Ai-based technologies have shown a descent improvement in speeding up the process of ingredient formulation. Protein Industries Canada funding the projects claims the final results show great potentials in the areas of food safety and quality assurance. Analysis of combinations: Ai can analyze huge repository of data related to plant proteins and the potential combinations. This helps researchers identify promising plant proteins and create products with a desirable taste and texture. The power of Machine learning: By utilizing proper algorithms, Ai can predict how different proteins will behave if they’re combined. This helps create products meeting consumer expectations. Gene-editing technologies: Along with genetic engineering and other advanced technologies, artificial intelligence can be used to raise protein yields in the final plant by using the proper usage of raw ingredients and enhancing their qualities during the process. Optimizing nutritional analysis: Scientists use Ai to analyze ingredient data and nutritional recommendations to better adjust the formulations and improve the nutritional profile of plant-based foods. The essential factors such as the amount of protein contained in the final product as well as vitamins, minerals, and essential healthy nutrients like amino acids. Joyful Ventures tackle the climate crisis Protein Industries Canada funding similar projects is not the only movement in agriculture industry. California-based Joyful recently also announced they have plans to invest over $23 million USD on newcomer companies interested in sustainable food and protein production tech space. Joyful hopes to in investment of over $25 million USD will be enough to target new startups interested in developing plant-based systems, precision fermentation, and molecular agriculture. Utilizing the power of Ai, we can design technologies that use considerable less water and energy. This results in emitting almost a fraction of the methane and CO2 as conventional animal proteins. AI technology has been applied in various ways to enhance food safety and quality assurance. The development of health-related products is going to rely on effective data analysis. AI-driven automation and data analytics are able to monitor and manage various parameters such as controlling the nutrient temperature, auto-adjusting pH levels in bioreactors, and optimizing the production process of plant-based proteins. These applications demonstrate the potential of AI technology to revolutionize the food industry. Based on the Protein Industries Canada funding and investing on Ai-driven projects, companies across Canada are being motivated to send their proposals aligned with this project and contribute to the long-term objectives of advancing Canada’s plant-based food industries and ingredients ecosystem.   Resources: https://betakit.com/protein-industries-canada-offers-10-million-to-help-grow-ai-use-in-food-sector/ https://betakit.com/canadian-led-california-based-joyful-ventures-closes-23-million-usd-to-back-sustainable-protein-startups/ https://betakit.com/after-selling-startup-to-instacart-new-school-foods-founder-raises-15-9-million-cad-to-create-plant-based-meat/