A new position was unveiled at the University of Saskatchewan that aims to bolster crop breeding in Western Canada.
The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Centre will be spending a total of $6.5 million to open up a new Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission Applied Genomics and Pre-Breeding Chair at USask. This announcement was made at the Durum Summit held in Swift Current last week.
This large investment will place someone in charge of a position that will utilize genomics to determine appropriate research usage on gene sequences that will strengthen possible varieties of wheat, durum, and winter cereal varieties.
Professor, Director, and Wheat Breeder at the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre, Curtis Pozniak, is excited about this position opening up new possibilities in his sector.
"Now this position will really serve as the bridge between sort of foundational research and cultivation of plant breeding development programs," said Pozniak. "We expect the candidate will use the very latest in technologies, for example, to characterize novel genetic diversity that's available that we can then tap into in our breeding programs to improve productivity, disease resistance and marketability of our Western Canadian crop."
For crops like durum, this may lead to research and breeding of a variety more resistant to diseases like fusarium. A stronger crop that yields a healthier product, limiting the damage from disease outbreaks, would help ensure more security for farmers and their operations.
For Jake Leguee, farmer and chair of the Sask. Wheat Development Commission, this promise of stronger varieties is key to the investment.
"If we're going to continue to see increases in yield, better traits in our crops, we need to be able to produce varieties that improve over the course of years and decades," said Leguee. "It takes a lot of experimentation, a lot of science, and so it's important as producers that we take steps to make sure that that can be done."
The money for this investment is supplied by Saskatchewan producers. For every ton of durum, wheat or winter cereals sold, a dollar is put aside for the Sask. Wheat for use in research.