RED DEER – A $400,000 pea breeding program has been announced for
Western Canada.
Funded by the Alberta and federal governments, the program will be
based at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lacombe, Alta.
Alberta agriculture minister Shirley McClellan announced the joint
initiative at the FarmTech 2002 conference in Red Deer.
The program encourages federal and provincial scientists to
co-operatively develop new field pea and faba bean varieties for
prairie conditions. The focus is on disease resistance, climate
adaptability and better market quality.
“Alberta’s farmers, processors and exporters can expect major economic
benefit from research focusing on disease-resistant pulse crops unique
to our climate,” McClellan said.
Alberta Pulse Commission president Dennis Dalton said he expects pea
and bean acres to reach 25 per cent of Alberta’s seeded acres by 2010,
with growth driven by better varieties.
Alberta produces about 700,000 acres of field peas, compared to 3.5
million acres produced Prairie-wide in 2001.
