Common bunt is a grading factor in CWRS wheat and listed as a priority 1 disease in the registration system. Down grading of infested grain results in a loss in revenue to farmers. Thus, this project focuses on efforts to boost bunt resistance by gene stacking in CWRS wheat, an approach used by plant breeders to assemble target genes of interest from different sources into breeding lines.
Read MoreAgriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC), with its combined six Research and Development Centres and eight Research Farms plays a critical role in furthering agricultural research in support of the wealth and well-being of prairie producers. With the expanding use of technology in agricultural equipment, the concept of precision farming and the ever-increasing need for producers to prove that their agricultural practices are sustainable, AAFC is being challenged as never before to maintain the modern equipment necessary to support the on-going needs of western producers.
Read MoreDr. Brar is starting his lab focused on the study of plant pathogens, host-pathogen interactions, and breeding for disease resistance at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The lab is the only one on the UBC campus that will carry out research on grain crops and applied aspects of plant pathology.
Read MoreOur objectives are to assist breeding programs in the development of Fusarium head blight-resistant wheat and barley for producers in western Canada. We are using an in vitro selection (IVS) method that employs high selection pressure for the development of doubled haploid bread wheat and barley lines with high levels of disease resistance. In this project, we will continue to generate FHB-resistant germplasm, but will also: (a) adapt the technology to target durum wheat, and (b) use IVS to develop a mutagenized, or “TILLING” population which can be used in breeding programs while also providing a genetic resource for marker development and to identify novel resistance and susceptibility genes.
Read MoreThe digital image platform enhances conventional approaches in which breeders adjudicate crop traits in the field, thus allowing rapid and unbiased assessments, and can be used as a key selection tool by plant breeders, geneticists, producers, and agronomists to optimize both plant breeding and crop management. The proposed ground-based platform will also allow the development of novel digital signatures that differentiate crop lines and help us to understand fundamental physiological processes in a changing environment.
Read MoreThe Crop Development Centre (CDC) Enhanced Breeding Facility (the Facility) Infrastructure Project is a critical re-development of the current Crop Science Field Lab, located on the University of Saskatchewan Campus, it will provide a much-needed expansion in work space capacity devoted to seed processing and storage, safe storage of chemicals, quality labs, grain drying facilities and field equipment maintenance and storage. In addition, it will add new workspace capacity devoted to indoor plant growth rooms for breeding programs, growth chambers for pathology programs and lab space for the recently hired WGRF Research Chair in Integrated Agronomy and the current CDC forage breeder.
Read MoreIn this project, we are proposing to develop state-of-the-art genomic prediction models for selecting winter hardiness and FHB resistance in winter durum. Over the past five years, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre (LRDC) has acquired diverse sources of germplasm and started a germplasm enhancement program with the goal of releasing winter durum cultivars to farmers in Alberta and Western Canada. Similarly, FHB resistance is a priority trait of all Canadian wheat breeding programs. This project aims to genotype the germplasm for genome-wide markers and phenotype the same lines at multi-locations.
Read MoreOne of the best ways to achieve a management strategy for HR weeds is through comprehensive surveys of areas in which these weeds occur. This project directly builds on three rounds of HR weed surveys conducted across the prairies (2013 to 2019) by Dr. Hugh Beckie. Thus, this project aims to aid the transition, maintain the methods used in previous surveys, increase surveillance efforts for new HR weeds, and build an HR weed biovigilance strategy for the Canadian Prairies.
Read MoreThe main aim of this project is to develop new estimates for crop nutrient uptake and removal by crops to address two concerns: 1) that the current information regarding crop nutrient uptake and removal does not reflect current crop yields, and 2) that the grain and straw nutrient concentration estimates are not adequately reflective of current varieties and there is no consistent data regarding micronutrient uptake and removal.
Read MoreThe overall objective of this project is to develop a novel way of conducting on-farm agronomic experiments that can be done automatically, and this method is termed as Modulated On-farm Response Surface Experiments (MORSE) by the researcher. This project focuses on a technology development that fuses developments in precision-controlled farm equipment with state-of-the-art advances in crop imaging and image analysis.
Read MoreThrough this proposal, in collaboration with AAFC’s Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) breeders, the researchers propose to assess the adaptability of wheat germplasm for arid environments for the long-term sustainability of agriculture. CWRS is a widely grown wheat class in Western Canada, accounting for 60% of annual production. It has high protein content that is highly regarded for its superior milling and baking quality.
Read MoreThe objectives of this project include: Determining and comparing the long-term effects of short, diverse and wheat-based rotations on agronomics and soil health; examining the short-term differences between these rotations; and documenting carbon and nitrogen input from residues of diverse crop sequences in southeastern Saskatchewan.
Read MoreThis funding will provide for continuation of “core” activities for the AAFC’s wheat breeding programs, supporting plant breeders, technicians, and specialists who are working to deliver field-ready varieties to western Canadian farmers.
Read MoreThe data collected from these trials is entered into annual publications “Varieties of Grain Crops” and “SaskSeed Guide”. In this project, SVPG is collecting data in the variety performance trials on priority traits to provide farmers with more productive information on farming decisions.
Read MoreThis project will take samples from fields across Saskatchewan to determine the number of wheat midge larvae present. This data will be used to produce the annual wheat midge forecast map.
Read MoreThis project will empirically study the effects of market consolidation on farm input and output prices in Western Canada.
Read MoreThe Conservation Learning Centre (CLC), located in the northern grain belt region of the Prairies, requires funding to purchase a plot combine to increase research capacity and do larger scale field trials.
Read MoreThis research aims to answer some fundamental questions about spot spraying technology such as its performance in western Canadian conditions and its impact on chemical use and crop yield.
Read MoreThis project will help better understand the genetics of FHB resistance and generate resistant germplasm in Canadian wheat background to facilitate development of FHB resistant cultivars.
Read MoreThe research in this project aims to generate and deploy novel genomic tools for the breeding of the future generation of Canadian wheat and barley cultivars that are tolerant to PHS.
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