New Chickpea Researcher
The Crop Development Centre and the department of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan have announced that Bunyamin Tar’an has been selected as assistant professor to work with chickpea breeding at the centre.
Tar’an completed a bachelor of science in agronomy from the Sriwijaya University in Indonesia, then moved to Guelph, Ont., and obtained a PhD in plant breeding and genetics.
As an associate with the CDC pulse crop breeding program since 2006, Tar’an has developed four chickpea varieties and is co-developer of a number of lentil, field pea and bean varieties.
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New Barley, Oat Breeder
Aaron Beattie has been named barley and oat breeder with the Crop Development Centre and the department of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan.
Beattie has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, and a PhD in molecular plant pathology from the University of Saskatchewan.
His PhD research focused on studying the avirulence genes in the net blotch pathogen of barley.
As a research officer with the CDC barley and oat breeding program since 2006, Beattie has become the co-developer of four oat varieties, two malting barley varieties and two feed barley varieties, and he is a member of the Prairie Recommending Committee for Oat and Barley and the barley quality and breeding/ agronomy evaluation teams.
Managing Vegetable Pests
Federal research funding is expected to help farmers improve insect and disease management.
Phytodata Inc. will receive up to $1.2 million to develop DNA-based technologies for disease monitoring in vegetables.
The funding will go toward developing new ways to monitor and detect major diseases in potatoes, grapes and greenhouse tomatoes. DNA-based technologies are reliable methods for monitoring diseases affecting fruits and vegetables and can help producers prevent the spread of disease through crops. The results can then be applied to other vegetable diseases.
Phytodata and project partner McCain Foods Canada hope to develop better detection of late blight in potatoes and several other airborne plant diseases.
4-H Funding
The British Columbia government is providing $75,000 to the B.C. Association of Agricultural Fairs and Exhibitions to help implement a five-year strategic plan.
It is designed to:
• educate the public about the important role B.C. fairs play in promoting agriculture and local food production;
• improve the range and quality of member services offered;
• build further relationships with key organizations and commercial members;
• pursue long-term, sustainable funding and partnerships;
• continue to support the delivery of projects and programs.
This year the association will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
