Agriculture Canada will continue to develop new wheat varieties, at least until other organizations become more involved in wheat breeding.
“(The department) will continue to produce wheat varieties over the next five years and will continue to provide the majority of testing sites required for plant variety registration,” says Stephen Morgan Jones, a director general with Agriculture Canada’s science and technology branch.
“At the same time, we will continue to work toward greater public-private collaboration, which is a key to boosting overall investment in wheat breeding research.… This will allow Canadian farmers to continue to compete with other countries that have adopted this model.”
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Morgan Jones said in an email that Agriculture Canada will continue “important early breeding work on wheat genetics and genomics.”
It will also participate in broad research networks and support the private sector in taking on more variety testing and commercialization work.
“Until other organizations step up to the extent that a significant number of wheat varieties are offered to the market, (Agriculture Canada) plans to continue to support research from variety development to commercialization,” he said.
“(Agriculture Canada) has participated in meetings, presentations and interviews with media over the past 18 months where the issue has been discussed publicly, including contact with the University of Saskatchewan and its Crop Development Centre.”
Morgan Jones said Ottawa is supporting the Canadian wheat industry with a contribution to the Canadian Wheat Alliance, which is led by the National Research Council.
The alliance will bring together federal, provincial and academic expertise and engage public and private sector organizations in advancing key research.
Alliance projects are aimed at improving the profitability of Canadian wheat producers and developing stable, high-yielding varieties.
The alliance will see federal investments of almost $85 million out of a total investment of $97 million, he said.
