Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
February 9, 2011

Seed of the Year - West was proud to announce AC Metcalfe, a two-row malting barley variety, as the winner of Seed of the Year in 2010. Part of the western award is a scholarship for $4000 that is awarded to a student enrolled in a western Canadian university and currently completing a masters or Ph.D in plant breeding or genetics. The scholarship helps contributes to the education of a new generation of plant breeders. The Seed of the Year – West Committee is pleased to announce that Silvia Barcellos Rosa is this year’s Seed of the Year scholarship winner. Silvia is a Ph.D. candidate in the Plant Science Department at the University of Manitoba. Silvia’s research involves the inheritance of leaf rust resistance from the Brazilian spring wheat line Toropi. Toropi may offer some resistance to stripe rust and the stem rust race Ug99 in the future. “It is very nice to have your hard work recognized; this kind of award is extremely important to young scientists” said Silvia.

Dr. Bill Legge the breeder responsible for AC Metcalfe selected Silvia as the 2010 scholarship winner and noted that “Silvia is excelling in both academics and research and is a very worthy recipient of this award. The results of Silvia’s research with Toropi could be extremely valuable to wheat producers in the future as wheat breeders incorporate it into new varieties for western Canada.”

Seed of the Year is designed to provide recognition to publicly-developed varieties that have made a significant contribution to the economy, agriculture, and the Canadian public in general. Although the name, Seed of the Year indicates the contribution in a particular year the program is much broader reaching and considers total lifetime achievement and contribution over time. It is important to recognize the value of the contributions of our public plant breeding programs, as well as encourage the entry of new plant breeders to the industry.

Seed of the Year like to acknowledge and thanks its sponsors: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Barley Commission, Canterra Seeds, Cargill, Canadian Wheat Board, Parrish & Heimbecker Limited, Canadian Seed Growers Association, Viterra, Richardson International, SeCan and Western Grains Research Foundation. We would also like to acknowledge and thank the judges and the other applicants who applied.

For more information on Seed of the Year, as well as application forms for next year please visit www.seedoftheyear.ca/west

Website: http://www.westerngrains.com

Published: February 9, 2011