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Tag Archives Plant breeding

Concentrating 13 growing seasons into five years gets the latest traits and technologies into growers’ hands more quickly.
News

Plant breeding picks up the pace

Thirteen years of breeding and production can now be done in five

By
Glacier FarmMedia – The pace of plant breeding has quickened by leaps and bounds, from selective breeding to the use of transgenics. Still, the process of breeding seeds with desired traits, rechecking for trait and yield performance and increasing those numbers for commercial availability all takes more than a decade. Or does it? Why it
A stand of kernza, a perennial distant relative of wheat.
Cereals, News

How scientific minds changed toward perennial grains

Early boosters were voices on the fringe: Today, perennial crops are sought by researchers worldwide — including Manitoba

By
In the early days of kernza — a perennial grain crop related to wheat — plant breeders at The Land Institute in Kansas couldn’t get a government grant to save their lives. “We got very nice compliments on our writing of the grant proposals and harsh criticism on the value of actually doing the work,”
AAFC barley researcher and breeder Ana Badea assesses plants at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada research station in Brandon.
Cereals, Farmit Manitoba

Filling in the genetic road map for better barley

AAFC has announced the first completed reference genome for a Canadian malt barley variety, and researchers say it’s the first step towards quicker, better breeding selection

By
Barley breeders have got their first look under the proverbial hood when it comes to genomic selection, and researchers say it bodes well for future varieties coming down the pipe. Why it matters: The first reference genome in Canadian malt barley sets the stage for a more streamlined, less expensive breeding process. Ana Badea, a
Scientists around the world have demonstrated the use of gene editing tools is as safe as any of the methods that have been used for thousands of years.
Comment, Op/Ed

Opinion: Plant-breeding innovations fuel future

This new technology can help solve some of the biggest challenges of tomorrow

By
Just as we’ve seen the importance of science and innovation in combating the current public health challenge, they stand to play an equally important role in helping agriculture tackle the challenges it faces ahead. New pests and major weather events are increasing, making the job of producing food for a growing population even more challenging.
File photo of Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau speaking to media in Winnipeg in March 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)
Crops

Bibeau says government committed to federal plant breeding

Seed royalty consultations stalled

By ,
The Canadian government is committed to plant breeding, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told members of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation on Tuesday. Some farmers and seed industry officials suspect Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) variety development work, along with many other programs, will be on the chopping block post-COVID-19 as the government tackles its
wheat research
Columns, Editorial, Op/Ed

Reporter’s Take: Farmer-owned AAFC?

By
In 2019 Canadian farmers grossed almost $37 billion from crop sales. Each started with a seed. That’s why getting farmers to pay more for plant breeding — often referred to as “value creation” — is important. It’s also contentious. Nobody wants to pay more and a lot of farmers worry royalties will enrich seed companies
Some are worried that the federal government will kibosh plant breeding as the COVID deficit grows.
News

AAFC sits on value creation sidelines

In the meantime farmers and the seed industry are seeking consensus on how to proceed

By
After farmer push-back Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has hit pause on end point and trailing royalties consultations aimed at getting producers to contribute more money for plant breeding. But the controversial issue isn’t dead. Some farm groups and the seed industry are trying to find consensus on how to proceed. “What we’re trying to
Plant breeder and researcher Doug Cattani was recently recognized by the province 
for innovation in sustainability.
Crops, Faces of ag, Farmit Manitoba, Local news

Kernza plant breeder recognized

Faces of Ag: Doug Cattani has spent his career working on perennial grasses

By
And to think, he could have been an accountant. Plant breeder and researcher Doug Cattani received provincial recognition in October for his work in developing perennial grains. Since 2010, Cattani has worked with Kernza, the trade name for organically produced intermediate wheatgrass, which is being developed for grain production. As a perennial grain, Kernza causes

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