Lentils, potash, uranium: 50 yrs and counting, the story behind India-Saskatchewan ties

Most Indians from the countryside say Saskatchewan reminds them of home with its yellow fields of wheat and acres of emerald farmland. Tuesday saw a piece of Saskatchewan make its way to the fields of the region as a company from the province demonstrated a drill that not only enables zero tillage but also takes care of the paddy stubble.

“Mahindra and Mahindra has signed an agreement with the Canadian company Clean Seeds to provide these drills developed in Saskatchewan…This tech has been monumental in moisture conservation, carbon sequestration and better soil health,’’ says Premier Moe while underlining the sustainable nature of their agriculture. Moe last visited India before Covid-19 in 2018. Two years later, Saskatchewan opened a trade and investment office in New Delhi to promote trade ties between India and the province.

The University of Saskatchewan, which has a Global Institute for Food Security, also signed an MOU with Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), and National Agro Biotech Institute (NABI) on Tuesday. The crop breeding programme researches products we need to look at in future, says Moe, “We produce crops from a sustainability perspective. We grow quinoa and wheat with 69 per cent less carbon per ton.’’

Immigration-wise

The province, says Moe, has a very robust immigration programme. “India is the second largest originating place for immigrants moving permanently to Saskatchewan.’’ More than 41 per cent of international post-secondary students in the province are from India. Moe says the province has a large number of Indian in the governing caucus as well.

With a small population of only 1.2 million and a fairly large area, the province is looking for engineers, doctors, nurses—as of now they need 700-1000 nurses—and other skilled workers for the construction and mining industry, ag-tech and other allied fields. Last year, 7000 immigrants came to Saskatchewan, and in 2021, 2,364 study permits were issued to Indian students.

The magic minerals

Saskatchewan holds the highest reserves of uranium in Canada. “We have 10 to 15 per cent of global uranium supply,’’ says Moe, adding that Canada had a nuclear cooperation agreement with India from 2015 to 2021. Most exciting is the province’s development of small modular reactors (SMR). “We have micro reactors capable of generating 5 MW and the Saskatchewan research council is working on modular reactors the size of a room,’’ says Moe. Besides being rich in uranium, the province has 23 critical minerals, including lithium, vital for electric batteries. Saskatchewan wants to be a supplier of choice when it comes to providing these minerals to India, says Moe. Technology as well.