Field surveys on the Canadian Prairies have reported that 69% of fields sampled for wild oats contain wild oats with some level of herbicide resistance. The project involves a multi-faceted approach to addressing the resistance issue. Funding for a part-time manager is requested to coordinate a number of activities including developing inventory of past and current research on wild oat biology and management, a voluntary producer testing program to increase awareness and an extension and awareness program.
Read MoreNearly all barley cultivars (including the most popular ones) in western Canada have poorer resistance than the moderately resistant checks. The current proposal targets all three aforementioned diseases of wheat and barley for characterization of the pathogen populations as well as identification of novel sources of resistance. The ultimate goal of the proposal is to generate information for wheat geneticists and breeders in western Canada, which will help them breed for resistance.
Read MoreCPSR breeding should be accelerated in order to keep pace with growing global demand and to maintain yield advantage. Genomic Selection (GS) is a molecular breeding tool that facilitates the selection of lines with genotypic information available only through prediction models constructed based on a training population. It is a streamlined method for early generation selection that accelerates cultivar development through shorter breeding cycles.
Read MoreWireworm is a serious pest for many growers, and on the Prairies is a unique mix of 3-4 dominant species. The damaging larvae live for several years in the soil, feed on multiple crops, and have patchy distributions. For these reasons wireworm is difficult to monitor, and no economic thresholds are currently available. As new (possible more effective) chemical seed treatments enter the marketplace, a glaring need exists for a decision-making framework for wireworm management. We will investigate to give producers information before using pesticides.
Read MoreEcological principles can be applied to agricultural practices to replace agrochemicals and increase productivity by implementing either species diversity e.g. mixed cropping or genetic diversity within species e.g. varietal mixture (VM). VM of several cultivars which belongs to the same market class and exhibit a similar quality profile but variable levels of pest resistance, drought tolerance and yield potential can be successfully implemented in large scale mechanized farming systems.
Read MoreThe proposed research into wheat and triticale that can fix atmospheric N2 for their own needs would increase cereal crop productivity in nitrogen-deficient soils and enhance sustainability of system management practices in agriculture by reducing the amount of N fertilizer application, thus saving both money and the environment. The proposed project aims at generation of triticale and wheat varieties with stable trait of Biological Nitrogen Fixation, by genetic engineering of crop plant mitochondrial genomes with the nitrogen fixation genes originating from BNF bacteria.
Read MoreThe present proposal combines the results of previous studies to determine optimal varietal choice and planting time; employing early- and late- planting with early- and late- maturing cultivars presently available to western Canadian wheat growers. This will aid in refining best management practices for optimal yield and harvest quality (including protein and falling number) for hard red spring wheat production in western Canada.
Read MoreThis project builds on the ongoing project co-funded by Sask Wheat on Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) resistance to fungicide, in which a Nested Association Mapping population for F. graminearum (FgNAM) was developed by crossing between eight isolates of Fusarium mostly from Saskatchewan and Manitoba and, a high-quality genome assembly have been generated. This population segregates for multiple traits including aggressiveness (quantitative variation of pathogenicity), deoxynivalenol (DON) chemotype (15ADON vs. 3ADON) and concentration and sensitivity to triazole fungicides.
Read MoreThis project focuses on developing CWRS wheat cultivars that are 10-15% higher yielding while meeting protein and baking quality targets. Some genes seem to be promising, as they are associated with improvements in grain protein content as well as in baking quality parameters, without any apparent negative effects on grain yield. The inclusion of these genes has been shown to have additional benefits such as balanced dough properties, increased mineral levels, and improved stripe rust resistance.
Read MoreThe goal of this project is to address disease resistance breeding in wheat by expanding on the novel genetic and genomic resources that has been established by the research team in CTAG and 4D Wheat projects, co funded by Sask Wheat. One of the objectives is to localize new genes for stripe rust resistance in bread wheat lines that are absent in the commercial spring wheat cultivars and to use the marker assisted selection and accelerated backcrossing to transfer Yr15 into Canadian bread and durum wheat varieties.
Read MoreThe main objectives of this project are to establish a high throughput phenotyping system, to analyze variation in Nested Association Mapping population founder lines of wheat to identify the genotypes better able to transpire and continue photosynthesizing under water stress, to map the underlying quantitative variation controlling biomass accumulation under water stress and to evaluate the stress resilient material in field trails comparing performance under irrigated and non-irrigated conditions.
Read MoreKochia is one of the biggest agricultural weed problems in the southern Canadian prairies due to increased abundance of herbicide-resistant (HR) biotypes. The overall goals of this research project are to improve the understanding of synthetic auxin resistance in kochia; to determine how quickly this type of resistance will spread; to develop effective tools for management of these biotypes and, to stay ahead of potential new types of herbicide resistance through intensive population screening efforts.
Read MoreThis project builds on the preliminary success on developing paper-based strip testing for Ochratoxin A, funded by Sask Wheat and other industry funders. The goals of this project are to optimize and scale up of test kits for Ochratoxin A that has been developed in the previous study, to develop a simple, inexpensive, strip-based test for other mycotoxins and to undertake a preliminary validation for their use outside the lab.
Read MoreThis project will deliver information on improving the fungicide timing and possibly widen the window of application for wheat growers and to make important decision on fungicide application in an integrated FHB management strategy. This study builds on the recently completed project on fungicide timing in durum wheat, funded by Sask Wheat.
Read MoreThis research will clearly identify the risks and benefits (in terms of crop stand establishment, yield, and quality) associated with early plantings of durum wheat in western Canada over a wide range of soil and climatic conditions. It will also identify the most effective genetics and agronomics to optimize yield and quality of CWAD wheat grown in cold soil conditions.
Read MoreCarbon foot printing is a now an important component of provincial, national, and international sustainability initiatives. Currently, there is no direct annual data on net carbon footprints for Saskatchewan cropping systems. The focus of this project is to provide spatially and temporally integrated data on greenhouse gas emissions at the field scale level obtained using micrometeorological techniques that will be used to determine net ecosystem exchange and the net carbon footprint of the cropping system.
Read MoreThis project builds of the recently completed Saskatchewan Soil Health Assessment Protocol (SSHAP) Phase 1 studies funded by Sask Wheat along with other industry funders. It is necessary to build off this research to expand the soil dataset with the goal of adjusting the SSHAP, so that the output will be soil zone-specific scores. This project will also incorporate novel biological indicators of soil health.
Read MoreDeveloping durum wheat varieties that are less susceptible to ergot has become a rising priority. With the goal of enhancing the level of understanding of genetic resistance for ergot in the breeding germplasm, this study will include extensive multi-year phenotyping and next generation genotyping of genetic populations, strategic parental selection and crossing, gene stacking and molecular phenotyping using the Canadian Light Source platform.
Read MoreThis project focuses on understanding the genes involved in high yield and high protein in Canadian germplasm such as AAC GoldNet, a recently registered cultivar with simultaneous increase in yield and protein. The objective is to map and identify high grain protein content QTL and verify QTL that are “keeping pace” with grain yield improvement using double haploid populations.
Read MoreCurrently the commercial soil testing is reliant on methods that are not compatible with modern emphasis on large datasets and rapid sensing. Spectral-based NIR sensing systems have the potential to reduce per-sample analysis costs by more than 90%, while producing near-instantaneous results in the field. The main goal of this project is to develop methodology to link field NIR data and laboratory analyses by combining the large datasets and advanced data processing techniques with a novel FT-NIR field probe.
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