Creating new varieties of any crop type is never a speedy process. Over the years of development, the end goal can shift so much so that selection priorities must shift as well. In the case of peas, root rot pressure, including from aphanomyces, has been an emerging concern. Ascochyta was the key disease focus for… Read More
Tag: Crop Development Centre
Trying to “cure” aphanomyces of pea and lentil is similar to trying to find a cure for something as complex as cancer. The organism is hardy, spreads easily, and persists in soil for a long time. Dr. Sabine Banniza, with the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre, says the root rot pathogen is likely native… Read More
BASF Agricultural Solutions has committed $100,000 towards updates to the crop breeding facility at the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) at Saskatoon. The updates will reduce cycle time and increase early generation selection on new crop varieties, including pulses. This funding is announced in conjunction with the 25-year anniversary of… Read More
Enhancing existing crops, creating novel uses for traditional crops, and developing new crops in Western Canada has been the consistent effort of the Crop Development Centre (CDC) for the last 50 years. Curtis Pozniak has been appointed by the CDC as new director at the University of Saskatchewan. Pozniak says as new director, he will… Read More
There are a lot of concerns in the pulse market at the moment. Things such as competition from the Black Sea region, and what’s happening with the election in India, can keep farmers up at night. While you have one eye on the markets, it’s also important to keep the other on agronomy. This is… Read More
Mapping the wheat genome has been a major goal of scientists for decades. Getting it sequenced was a major accomplishment, but it wasn’t the end of the journey – it was, in reality, only opening the door so the journey could begin. Curtis Pozniak, professor at the University of Saskatchewan and plant breeder with the… Read More
Farmers need seed to grow crops. It’s just that simple. This is why public institutions have played such an important role in plant breeding over the years. But, just as new varieties are needed when environmental conditions change, new funding models for plant breeders are needed when economic conditions change. Kofi Agblor knows all to… Read More
On Monday, RealAg Radio is on location at the Canadian Seed Trade Association’s semi-annual meeting in Ottawa, Ont. Today’s show sponsor is Fortenza seed treatment that’s powered by Syngenta. Guests include: Todd Hyra, President of the Canadian Seed Trade Association speaks about the proposed value creation models suggested by the industry Scott Ewert with Syngenta… Read More
Federal minister of agriculture Lawrence MacAulay was at the University of Saskatchewan this week to announce $11.1 Million in funding for SaskPulse and Pulse Canada under the Canadian Agriculture Partnership, AgriScience Clusters. In addition, $7.2 million of industry matching funding will bring the total investment to over $18 million. At the press conference, held at… Read More
Canterra Seeds and the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre have finalized their arrangement for the distribution of CDC-developed pea varieties in the U.S. After winning the rights in an open-bid competition last year, Canterra — with its U.S. affiliate Meridian Seeds — and the CDC have been determining which varieties to include in the… Read More
Peas, and pulses in general, are getting a lot of attention even as we gear up for the United Nations’ International Year of the Pulses. Global food trends seem to be favouring the commodity, with expectations that demand will continue to rise. For western Canadian pulse growers, this might mean developing an understanding of their varietal… Read More
Canterra Seeds, a Winnipeg-based seed company, announced yesterday that it had successfully bid in an open competition for exclusive U.S. distribution rights for dry pea pedigreed seed varieties developed at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC). “This relationship was built on our strong track record, both with the CDC and with US farmers,” said… Read More
The economics of farming naturally put “high yield” at the top of every plant breeders list, but something like yield is interwoven with a number of other factors. Just to allow a plant to maintain its intrinsic yield potential you have to develop it to be able to compete with weeds, stand well and have… Read More