Research on Wheat in Canada

Canadian farmers are supporting the 2011 CWB postgraduate awards program for Canadian universities to do research on wheat varieties that are early-maturing and disease resistant. "By supporting these researchers, we help ensure that farmers will be able to continue to produce wheat varieties that are highly desired by customers and competitive in the international marketplace," said Allen Oberg, chair of the CWB's board of directors. "The pressures of weather and disease must be continually combated to keep Prairie producers as profitable as possible."

The University of Alberta is developing early-maturing wheat varieties that can mitigate the risk of early- and late-season frost on the Canadian Prairies, and adapt to the pressures of climate change. It is also into wheat breeding techniques that can quickly adapt to new disease threats such as stem rust by Ug99 in East Africa. Research at the University of Saskatchewan is exploring wheat leaf rust, stripe rust and powdery mildew and their interaction with disease-resistant genes in the wheat plant. At the University of Manitoba, research will be on fusarium head blight in wheat.

Details of this news at http://www.cwb.ca/public/en/newsroom/releases/2011/news_release.jsp?news=080811.jsp