EDMONTON – Polish canola may soon become more attractive to farmers as plant breeders develop new varieties with improved traits, yields and competitive advantages over its Argentine cousins.
“We have some hybrids that are doing really well,” says Kevin Falk, the plant breeder who is leading Canada’s Polish canola breeding program at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Saskatoon.
“Strong yields. We also have some synthetics that are doing great. And there are open pollinated (Polish varieties being developed) too.”
He told grain producers attending Farm Tech 2008 in Edmonton that his breeding program is beginning to deliver strong resistance to blackleg and brown girdling root rot. He is also working on clubroot resistance.
Read Also
VIDEO: Green Lightning and Nytro Ag win sustainability innovation award
Nytro Ag Corp and Green Lightning recieved an innovation award at Ag in Motion 2025 for the Green Lightning Nitrogen Machine, which converts atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-usable form.
“There are a large number of clubroot resistant genes available for Polish canola. We need good (germplasm) available to which we can add these down the road.”
The clubroot research project involves the University of Alberta, Alberta Agriculture and Agriculture Canada research centres in Beaverlodge, Alta., and Saskatoon.
Falk plans to seek registration later this year and next year for the newest varieties: the hybrid ACS C24H and the synthetic ACS C12S, which has blackleg and BGRR resistance and yield improvements of 15 to 20 percent over existing varieties AC Sunbeam and AC Parkland.
“We hope to be able to keep seed prices down, especially in the open pollinated varieties we develop,” Falk said.
“We would expect (new open pollinated) varieties to sell for about $2 per pound. Argentine hybrids are bringing $6 to $7 right now.”
The new Polish varieties aren’t genetically modified, which appeals to producers hoping to produce the crop for niche, export markets.
Breeders create synthetic hybrid canola by mixing two genetic lines of canola seed and growing them in the same field. Polish canola is not capable of self pollinating, so it relies on neighbouring plants for the other half of its genetics.
“Roughly half of the seed produced is a hybrid. It utilizes just what Mother Nature put in canola and it works very well,” Falk said.
Unlike Argentine hybrids, the new Polish varieties are unrestored hybrids, meaning the males are sterile and don’t shed pollen. Agriculture Canada breeders are working on two systems to deal with this issue:
- Mixing pollen-producing plants in the field with sterile hybrids.
- Creating fully restored hybrids.
“Provided the pollinator flowers at the same time as the hybrid, it works really well. The French tried it about 15 years ago and they had farmer lawsuits when it rained during flowering,” he said.
“After six years of trials here we haven’t had any problems.”
Higher canola prices are creating new interest in the Polish varieties, even if they yield less than Argentine varieties.
Producers are also interested in Polish canola’s drought and heat tolerance, early maturity and shatter resistance, which reduces combine losses and eliminates the need to swath.
“There are producers from the southern Prairies that would like to have a canola they can grow without the large risk of suffering severe drought or heat damage,” Falk said.
“In the Peace (River district of Alberta and British Columbia) growers would like to have a shorter season but high yielding crop with a good disease package.”
As it has for nearly 20 years, herbicide tolerance remains just around the corner for Polish canola.
“As a breeder I am ready to go with producing a Clearfield (herbicide tolerant) crop. But BASF says there is no demand for it and they don’t want it to go ahead,” he said.
Falk asked growers attending the agronomy conference to voice their desire for the crop directly to BASF and through their seed dealers.
“If there is producer pull in the production chain, it has a better chance of getting them to show some interest,” he said.
