Crop researchers are making an appeal for more funding to develop perennial grain crops.
“We feel we could actually have our first marketable perennial grain in 20 years and I think that’s probably being conservative,” said John Reganold, co-author of a paper published in the policy forum ofSciencemagazine.
Perennials would be good for the environment, make use of marginal lands and cut down on escalating input costs, said the Washington State University professor of soil science.
Surya Acharya, a forage breeder at Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre, said 20 years is a conservative estimate considering he released a perennial rye crop for commercial production in 2002.
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Ace-1 reduced silage feed costs by 15 to 20 percent, delivered farmers a second cut of rye and produced a feed product containing energy and fibre.
“This new variety may significantly increase interest in rye,” said Agriculture Canada in the June 14, 2002 edition of itsBi-Weekly Bulletin.
That didn’t happen. Acharya said the crop was given to a small seed company that lost interest in marketing it due to concerns about how selling perennials instead of annuals would impact its future revenue streams.
“I think it was a mistake to give it to a small company without proper vision for this,” he said.
Acharya is convinced seed companies could make money from perennial cereals because they can do it with a crop like alfalfa. They have to persuade farmers to pay more for the seed.
Reganold said perennial crops offer agronomic and environmental benefits, significantly reducing the potential of soil erosion.
Roots from crested wheatgrass can bore four metres into the soil compared to half a metre for the plants farmers now grow.
In addition to minimizing soil erosion, the long roots can reach more nutrients and water, minimizing the need for fertilizer and irrigation. And the crops leave behind some of the best soil in the world, said Reganold.
Perennials also provide year-round ground cover, reducing the light available to stimulate weed growth so fewer herbicides are needed to control them. The crops can be productive for five or six years, which eliminates annual seed costs and the accompanying fuel expense.
Perennial grains would augment rather than replace annual crops. They can be grown on marginal land, such as steep slopes, fields with little topsoil or land with structural or compaction problems.
“There are so many pluses,” said Reganold. “That combination is going to be hard to beat.”
Acharya said another benefit of particular interest to growers in Western Canada is that perennials are earlier maturing than annual crops.
“We only have 100 frost free days and if we can utilize that properly, that would definitely be a big boost,” he said.
Researchers have already created lines of perennial wheat that can be used to make bread but they are low yielding.
Acharya has seen those varieties, which look more like rye grass than wheat. He feels perennial wheat is a long way off.
There is potential to cross his Ace-1 rye with triticale to create a perennial triticale that could be used as a bioenergy crop.
Acharya has already done work on triticale but funding has dried up.
He also maintains hope that the Ace-1 rye project will be revitalized in the future.
“I still feel that it has a lot of potential. It can do wonders for our cattle industry,” he said.
