SASKATOON – Zhang Yan couldn’t quite figure out what she was looking at.
Standing in a wind-swept field at the Agriculture Canada research station here last week, she examined with some curiosity a sleek-looking bottle containing what appeared to be a mixture of oil and assorted flower petals.
The director of the agriculture commission of Shanghai, China, was in Canada to take part in the official launching of Agriculture Canada’s first hybrid canola, known as AC-H102.
A table had been set up adjacent to the AC-H102 test plot and on it were placed a variety of canola products – salad oil, margarine and the strange-looking bottle that attracted Zhang’s interest.
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Finally, Keith Downey came to the rescue. Just as puzzled, Canada’s most famous canola researcher flipped up a tag on the back and the mystery was solved – canola bath oil.
Bath oil probably isn’t what Chinese and Canadian scientists had in mind when they began collaborating to produce a hybrid canola.
But in some ways it was indicative of the wide variety of benefits that Downey says flow to all sectors of society through international scientific co-operation.
AC-H102, which will be available in limited quantities this fall through SeCan, is one of fewer than half a dozen canola hybrids in existence. And as Downey described it, it is “truly an international hybrid.”
Using genes from Chinese rapeseed and breeding techniques developed by Chinese scientists, plant breeders at the Saskatoon station developed the new variety.
The project is aimed at boosting production of canola-quality rapeseed in China, but the new variety will also benefit Canadian farmers.
Because it’s a hybrid, farmers must buy seed every year. Producing the seed is a complex task, and the price will reflect that. A SeCan official said it will likely sell for around $3 a pound, compared with $1.75 to $2 for traditional varieties.
