The provincial wheat grower commissions in Alberta and Saskatchewan have announced more than $1.6 million in combined funding over three years for over half a dozen wheat-related research projects.
“These projects have the potential to bring major benefits to farmers across Western Canada,” notes Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission chair Laura Reiter. “We’re proud to partner with the Alberta Wheat Commission to invest on behalf of farmers in projects which will lead to improved wheat varieties and agronomic practices.”
Research topics include stripe rust surveillance to improve resistance in regional wheat varieties, developing a reliable method of gene editing in wheat that could simplify the breeding process, and improving nitrogen (N) use efficiency in Canadian wheat.
“Investment in wheat research remains our highest priority,” says Kevin Bender, AWC Chair. “Putting check-off dollars into innovation helps ensure farmers continue to have access to the best methods and results possible, ultimately resulting in better returns.”
The groups are funding this research through the Ag Funding Consortium — a partnership of 13 organizations established to create a one-window approach for ag research funding in Alberta.
Projects receiving funding:
Project: An efficient system to identify virulence patterns of stripe rust in Canada
Principal Investigator: Dr. Reem Aboukhaddour (AAFC)
AWC investment: $61,500
Sask Wheat Investment: $67,650
Project: A Comparative Genomics Approach to Improve Doubled Haploid Breeding for Common and Durum Wheat
Principal Investigator: Dr. John Laurie
AWC investment: $150,000
Sask Wheat Investment: $66,000
Project: Precision breeding in wheat mediated by engineered haploid inducers
Principal Investigator: Dr. John Laurie
AWC Investment: $100,000
Sask Wheat Investment: $110,000
Project: Genetics and Improvement of Earliness in Canadian Spring Wheat
Principal Investigator: Dr. Dean Spaner
AWC Investment: $200,000
Sask Wheat Investment: $150,000
Project: Breeding spring wheat for improved Nitrogen Use Efficiency and associated traits
Principal Investigator: Dr. Dean Spaner
AWC Investment: $200,000
Project: Revisiting the value of early fungicide applications in wheat
Principal Investigator: Dr. Sheri Strydhorst
AWC Investment: $48,770
Sask Wheat Investment: $112,171
Project: Nitrogen Fixation in Triticale and Wheat
Principal Investigator: Dr. Alicja Ziemienowicz
AWC Investment: $120,000
Sask Wheat Investment: $260,000
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