Robotics and other innovations could make Canada a green food powerhouse.Ottawa—The agrifood sector's need for technological solutions to its perpetual labour shortages was made clear by COVID-19 and finding solutions needs to be accelerated, says Lenore Newman, Canada Research Chair on Food Security and Environment at the University of the Fraser in B.C.The existing labour challenges were aggravated by the pandemic, she told a webinar organized by the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute and the Arrell Food Institute as part of their Growing Stronger Initiative. Add in climate change's impact on the sector and “we're going to need a lot more technology to produce more food locally year-round. “The labor problem hits everyone from an alternative agriculture producer to a big industrial producer.”Newman was a member of a task force set up by B.C. Premier John Horgan to study agrotechnology and how it could help producers cope with labour shortages and climate issues. A report has been submitted and “they're looking at it very firmly to see what can we do.”Citing her experience in the B.C. blueberry sector, she said. “We could see technology replacing some of the more difficult and seasonal work such as the harvest. … Certainly, robotics is going to be a big part of the future berry harvest.“We can look to Japan for a good model as they have a huge labor problem because of aging and they're already moving that way. I think we're going to see technology attacking both those problems.”The pandemic has created “a sudden interest in food that's never been touched by human hands, and in California they're starting to market food this way in the vegetable line especially with lettuces that have been harvested by robots, grown by robots, packaged by robots, literally when you open them you're the first person to touch them.”New technologies will enable more seasonal products to be grown indoors for parts of the year where they will be safe from birds, disease and winter, she said. “We're already seeing a lot of people looking to indoor growing as a way to stretch our production.”Technology could also make Canada into a green powerhouse for food, Newman said. “We're very good at producing grain in a sustainable way and pulses and marketing them to the world. They're a great crop because you can put them on a boat and take them there by train, whereas importing all of our strawberries from California ensures we burn a tonne of energy to get them here and that their quality will be low when they get here. I really think you have to go crop by crop and what bothers me is some of the things we do because we don't think about these externalities.”The uses of technology in agriculture is complex and “one of the reasons we need more study in this area and we need more people doing not kind of analysis.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.