Western Canadian farmers may take over part of the public plant-breeding work that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) is leaving behind, a move that could shape much of the wheat grown on the Prairies, the Manitoba Co-operator reports.
About 80% of the hard red wheat varieties grown in the region come from the public breeding system, said Scott Jespersen, chair of the Canadian Barley Research Coalition (CBRC). AAFC still releases strong varieties, he said, but plans to concentrate on early-stage breeding and research into novel traits rather than carrying new varieties through development into seed production. "If nobody takes it over, we lose 80 per cent of the varieties that have been helped that are growing in Western Canada," he said; what is already in the pipeline might last "maybe 10 more years".
The Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC) and the CBRC have formalised a partnership to reshape how wheat and barley varieties are developed, tested and marketed, after a CWRC-commissioned review by Synthesis Agri-Food Network found problems in variety development and testing. "Status quo was not an option," said Jocelyn Velestuk, the CWRC's chair and a farmer near Broadview, Saskatchewan.
Farmers are now considering a new plant-breeding agency directed and owned by growers rather than leaving the work to the private sector, giving them more say over research they already fund through checkoff dollars. Alberta Grains, SaskBarley, Sask Wheat and the Manitoba Crop Alliance could take part, with farmer seats on the board, though no structure has been set. The initial focus would be hard red wheat, durum and barley, working with existing programmes such as the University of Saskatchewan's malt barley breeding and Western Crop Innovations' feed barley work.
The review also found too little capacity to test varieties, especially for disease resistance. Velestuk said disease nurseries lack the sites and staff to handle all the testing breeders need before registration, and research sites such as Indian Head and Scott in Saskatchewan and Lacombe in Alberta must be kept and strengthened. "We need more, not less," she said.
Success, Jespersen said, would be measured in farmers' fields: a steady stream of new varieties, adopted and profitable, with "no gaps in the variety development system".
Photo: Ryan Hodnett / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Manitoba Co-operator
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