University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre (CDC) Core Breeding Agreement

Term: 5 years, starting in 2020

Status: Ongoing

Funding Amount: Over $9.6 million

Lead Researcher(s): Dr. Pierre Hucl and Dr. Curtis Pozniak (University of Saskatchewan)

Funding Partners: Funded through the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition, a collaboration of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, the Alberta Wheat Commission, and the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association.

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Project Description

The CWRC funding will provide expanded “core” support for the Crop Development Centre’s wheat breeding programs, including a significant increase in contributions to field-based breeding activities, disease nursery and screening, molecular marker assisted breeding, winter nursery capacity, and end-use quality evaluation. The Crop Development Centre will be concentrating on the development of Canadian Western Red Spring (CWRS), Canadian Western Amber Durum (CWAD), and Canadian Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat cultivars with improved yield potentials, and greater resistance to diseases such as fusarium head blight (FHB) and stripe rust, and pests such as the orange wheat blossom midge.