BANFF, Alta. – A flax variety that matures three days earlier than Flanders could be available to prairie farmers within three years, creating the opportunity to grow flax in more northerly agricultural areas.
The candidate variety, FP 2161, received support for registration last week during the annual meeting of the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain.
It must still gain registration approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and at least two to three years would be needed to produce enough seed for commercial release to farmers.
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The flax cultivar was developed at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Morden, Man. Flax breeder Scott Duguid said it could be especially beneficial to farmers in areas such as the Peace River region of Alberta and British Columbia.
“They’re looking for an alternative oilseed in their production system that doesn’t require a lot of inputs and they can see a return on their money from it. This line has that potential.”
According to three years of research data, FP 2161 tends to mature three days earlier than Flanders. In areas with a shorter growing season, it also tends to yield significantly higher than Flanders, which was used as the check in flax co-operative testing.
“When you put an oilseed cultivar into a northern environment, if you have cooler and moister conditions, you tend to get higher levels of oil and alpha linolenic acid,” said Duguid.
FP 2161 is immune to rust and its fusarium wilt resistance is similar to that of Flanders and NorLin. The oil content and quality of the seed are also similar to that of Flanders.
“It’s designed to meet the requirements of the general industry as a whole,” said Duguid, describing the oil profile of FP 2161.
