SASKATOON — There is such an explosion of new peas and canola varieties that even researchers have a problem trying to keep up, says scientist Brian Rossnagel.
“They’re producing like rabbits,” said Rossnagel of the Crop Production Centre at the University of Saskatchewan.
This year there will be over 50 new varieties in 20 different crops released, and the bulk are new varieties of peas and canola.
Seed companies are “releasing a large number of varieties that are not very different,” he said.
“There are a great big pile of canola varieties coming forward. You guys are going to have to figure it out,” he told farmers during Crop Production Week.
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It will be up to farmers to wade though the scientific data to see which variety is best suited for their area and guess what will be the upcoming hot variety.
That’s a vast difference from the number of varieties released a few years ago. Producers were lucky if a single crop variety was released every four years. The flood has come about since the passage of plant breeders’ rights and due to changed regulations allowing new varieties to be released if they have “merit.” Before they had to be better than the existing varieties.
Today companies will release “sister lines” of varieties. The lines are from the same genetic stock with only slight differences.
Rossnagel said there’s no use complaining. These are the new rules producers have to live with. He compared it to manufacturing automobiles. Ford can’t stop Chevrolet from building and selling a vehicle because it already has one on the market.
