Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
September 28, 2004
For many Canadian wheat
researchers, it's their "ace in the hole" for winning the fight
against common wheat production problems - a partnership with
the International Maize and
Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in Mexico.
The Centre, which has long shared genetic resources with
Canadian breeding programs, is now playing a key role in helping
the University of Alberta
(U of A) develop varieties with earlier maturity for northern
areas. The U of A wheat germplasm development program is
supported in part by farmers through the Wheat Check-off Fund,
administered by Western
Grains Research Foundation (WGRF).
"We're working with a large bank of CIMMYT wheat lines that have
shown early maturity," says Dr. Dean Spaner, U of A wheat
breeder. "These lines will provide an infusion of genetics to
incorporate into our wheat material, which will mean earlier
maturing varieties to benefit western Canadian producers in
areas with shorter growing seasons."
This summer, researchers conducted trials using upwards of 180
lines of CIMMYT origin. The trials, which included components at
the U of A farm and at Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural
Development (AAFRD) in Lacombe, allowed researchers to evaluate
the genetics of earliness in relation to yielding ability and
the quality of wheat, says Spaner.
The researchers used the material in broader U of A selections
for yield, earliness, lodging, shattering tolerance and quality.
The best of these selections, along with CIMMYT-derived material
selected for earliness in 2001 to 2003, have been sent to
pre-co-op tests and could result in varieties available to
farmers over the next three to five years.
"The material we're working with now shows one to five days of
earlier maturity compared to today's popular varieties, which
may be a significant advantage for producers managing within a
short growing season," says Spaner. "The difficulty will be to
get that maturity in a solid overall package of traits, so
growers don't have to compromise on characteristics like yield
and quality."
CIMMYT, which has a global mandate to conduct maize and wheat
research to benefit developing countries, is recognized as one
of the world's premier developers of wheat germplasm. Other
WGRF-supported western Canadian wheat breeding institutions
working closely with CIMMYT include AAFRD Lacombe, Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Saskatchewan's Crop
Development Centre.
"As Canadian wheat breeders, we have a strong reputation for
wheat development, but our continued success depends on sharing
germplasm sources both at home and abroad," says Spaner. "It's
the only way to get the varied genetic resources you need to be
successful. That's why we're very fortunate to have partners
like CIMMYT and other colleagues in Canada and internationally."
Germplasm as a term is used when talking about the specific
genetics contained in wheat plants. Wheat breeders often refer
to the pool of germplasm from which they stitch together traits
into strong overall varieties suitable for commercial
production.
As opposed to cultivar development programs, germplasm
development programs focus more on finding and improving
individual traits in experimental lines rather than on
developing complete varieties. Improved germplasm is then used
by breeders as crucial source material. "The bigger and better
the germplasm pool, the greater your chances for a successful
variety," says Spaner.
Traditionally, advances in early maturity have come at the cost
of yield, since maturity and yield tend to be inversely related.
However, years of germplasm development work by the U of A
program and others has led to significant improvements for both
traits in the same wheat germplasm, which can be used to develop
varieties that feature these dual benefits.
The producer-funded Wheat Check-off Fund, administered by WGRF,
allocates more than $3 million annually to wheat breeding
research in Western Canada. |