Farmers' role in sustainable agriculture - Investing in new genetics

Feb 19, 2024

By Farms.com

A panel of agricultural experts convened to discuss the imperative of farmers' involvement in advancing sustainable agriculture through investment in new genetics. Jeff Jackson, representing SeedNet, urged collective responsibility in variety development to ensure industry resilience and growth.

The panel, comprising industry stakeholders, underscored the significance of supporting genetic innovation to address emerging challenges like climate variability and pest management. They emphasized the role of incentivizing plant breeders and funding research initiatives to foster innovation and ensure farmers' prosperity.

Sheri Strydhorst voiced concerns about funding constraints impacting essential trials, stressing the need for industry solidarity to safeguard critical variety development processes. Greg Stamp raised questions about the sustainability of producer-funded programs, urging alignment with long-term industry interests.

Morgan Webb highlighted the importance of genetic purity in seed production for crop quality and integrity, cautioning against neglecting pedigree standards.

The panel concluded by advocating adherence to laws and proper seed acquisition channels to ensure fair compensation for developers and industry advancement.

Video: New research chair appointed to accelerate crop variety development

Funded by Sask Wheat, the Wheat Pre-Breeding Chair position was established to enhance cereal research breeding and training activities in the USask Crop Development Centre (CDC) by accelerating variety development through applied genomics and pre-breeding strategies.

“As the research chair, Dr. Valentyna Klymiuk will design and deploy leading-edge strategies and technologies to assess genetic diversity for delivery into new crop varieties that will benefit Saskatchewan producers and the agricultural industry,” said Dr. Angela Bedard-Haughn (PhD), dean of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at USask. “We are grateful to Sask Wheat for investing in USask research as we work to develop the innovative products that strengthen global food security.”

With a primary focus on wheat, Klymiuk’s research will connect discovery research, gene bank exploration, genomics, and breeding to translate gene discovery into improved varieties for Saskatchewan’s growing conditions.