Viterra will test tougher canola varieties this spring that use gene technology developed by an Israeli biotechnology firm.
The genes discovered by Evogene provide improved resistance to abiotic stress, which results from environmental factors such as drought, salinity or extremes of heat or cold.
Researchers say canola lines that are better able to handle such conditions could produce higher yields for farmers and potentially expand available growing areas for the crop, which is currently in high demand as an edible oil and biofuel.
“Our company has an ongoing commitment to plant breeding that benefits our farm customers as well as our end-use customers,” Viterra president Mayo Schmidt said in a news release.
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The candidate genes covered in the three-year Viterra-Evogene agreement have been evaluated in model plants, showing improved yield under normal and adverse environmental conditions.
“We have been working with global ag biotech companies to introduce these genes into major field crops,” said Evogene president Ofer Haviv.
“We recently announced successful third year field trial results for one of these candidate genes – Evo133.”
Evogene recently released results from the third year of trials for the Evo133 gene in genetically modified tomato plants. The company reported that yields increased by up to 25 percent over the control group under normal conditions and by 20 percent when under stress.
