The technology that brought glyphosate resistant canola to prairie fields will finally be used to provide one-pass weed control with hard red spring wheat.
“I expect this product will really allow zero till to take off big time. Farmers will be able to control the perennial weeds that have been causing expensive problems for zero tillage producers,” said Greg Penner, section head of cereal biotechnology at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Manitoba.
Monsanto and Agriculture Canada, through negotiations that began in the spring of 1997, have a licencing arrangement in which Monsanto will provide its RoundUp Ready technology and Agriculture Canada will marry the system to elite germ plasm lines already in the trial stage of development.
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Joint venture
Agriculture Canada will take the final product through testing to cultivar delivery. Monsanto will retain distribution licencing rights.
A hard red spring variety with its genetic roots in Grandin, for yield, and other lines for disease resistance will take on the glyphosate resistant genes from Monsanto. The combination will make it possible for producers to use the lower cost broad range herbicide in one or more post-seeding applications.
“This agreement is aimed at delivery rather than research. We will need at least four years of testing to make sure there are adequate levels of resistance to the herbicide but the result should be a very important step in prairie agriculture,” said Penner.
Canada will be home to the first release of the glyphosate resistant wheat, expected in 2002, with releases in the United States and other countries following the Canadian debut, say Agriculture Canada officials.
