Saskatchewan Variety Performance Group (SVPG) Support for Regional Variety Testing 2021
Term: 1 year, beginning in 2021
Status: Ongoing
Funding Amount: $66,586
Lead Researcher(s): Terry Kowalchuk (Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture)
Funding Partners: N/A
Project Description
The Saskatchewan Variety Performance Group (SVPG) is an informal group made up of stakeholders who are interested in variety performance testing in Saskatchewan. SVPG has coordinated the post-registration regional performance testing of spring wheat, durum, barley, oats and flax varieties since 2006. The data collected from these trials is entered into annual publications Varieties of Grain Crops and SaskSeed Guide. These publications are valuable resources for producers and seed growers who are looking for unbiased comparisons of variety data.
Regional testing of crop varieties is conducted to provide producers with information on the agronomic performance of varieties under different agro-climatic conditions. Saskatchewan producers will continue to have the opportunity to evaluate the newest grain crop varieties and their suitability for production in different regions of the province. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture provides $100,000 toward a testing program that is based on industry-government partnership. An entry fee system is used, in which variety owners or companies with the distribution rights to a particular variety pay a portion of the cost of having the variety tested. The Saskatchewan Seed Growers’ Association, Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission, Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission and SaskFlax collectively provide $75,000 to the program. Technical and in-kind support is also provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation and The Western Producer, publisher of the 2016 SaskSeed Guide. A long-term database is maintained to provide comparisons to a commonly grown check variety. The data include information on yield, various agronomic factors and certain market-related traits. The Saskatchewan Variety Performance Group (SVPG) administers the program for spring cereals and flax. SVPG is composed of representatives from seed industry, producers, breeders and government. SeCan Association (see company description below) administers the funds for SVPG. Crop coordinators manage the data and provide expertise for their respective crops. The results of the testing are reviewed by the Saskatchewan Advisory Council on Grain Crops (SACGC), which also updates disease and other agronomic information, and approves the data prior to inclusion in this publication. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture grant also provides some support to programs that test pulses, sunflower and canaryseed. The testing information from these crops is included in this publication. Relative yield of varieties Trials are conducted using uniform protocols and standard check varieties. Data are collected from as many sites as are available and statistically analyzed. Results in this publication are aggregated over a number of years and on an area basis for most crops. Grain yield is a function of genetic and nongenetic factors. Variety trials are designed to measure the yield differences that are due to genetic causes. It is important to minimize variability due to non-genetic factors such as moisture, temperature, transpiration, weeds, diseases and other pests. Experimental design uses replication (repeated plantings of the varieties) and randomization (the position of the varieties within the test is assigned by chance) to estimate the precision with which the genetic factors can be measured. Relative yield is the yield of one variety expressed as a percentage of the check variety. Yields obtained in these trials are not identical to those obtained in commercial production. However, the relative ranking of these varieties compared to the check variety, obtained over a number of years at several locations, would remain the same regardless of whether the grain yield was measured in small plots or large-scale fields. Relative yield is the best estimate of expected yield advantage in the areas indicated.