Home Grown: AgTechX event takes proactive approach to food safety

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - In today's Home Grown, the ag industry is taking a more proactive approach to food safety.

Technology is being integrated into the way crops are diagnosed with food-borne illnesses such as E. coli. 

That's why those responsible for food safety of fields are invited to the AgTechX event on Wednesday.

"The hope is to integrate all these things: the companies with the technologies, the growers and the processors and the regulators and make a better food safety system," said Paul Brierley, executive director of the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture.

This event will meld together technology with faster detection of disease.

"What we wanted to do is take a focused look at the rapid diagnostics area," said Dennis Donohue, executive director of the Western Growers Association. "How do we get information more quickly, and how can that be applied whether it's in the field, receiving product in a processing facility or before it ships."

The AgTechX event will be held at the Four Points by Sheraton and will begin at 1 p.m. with a guest speaker who has worked with the Food and Drug Administration.

This event is a joint effort between Western Growers Association, the Center for Produce Safety and the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture.

Registration can be done on their website.