As climate change continues to disrupt Canada’s agricultural stability, Genome British Columbia (Genome BC) is funding research collaborations.
“Pairing genomic tools with grower and sector insights cuts years off the timeline to climate-ready crops,” says Dr. Federica Di Palma, Genome BC’s chief scientific officer and vice president, Research and Innovation. “These projects will strengthen local food security and ensure a more resilient economy for British Columbia.”
One of these projects is breeding cherries, a stone fruit that British Columbia specializes in. In 2024, the country exported more than 1,000 metric tons of cherries, valued at more than $12 million, with 95 per cent grown in British Columbia. However, recent production declines due to extreme weather events are seriously impacting the industry.
A solution is to breed new cherry varieties with stable production under the shifting environmental pressures in the region. Traditional methods of cultivation, however, can take up to 30 years, a timeline that is simply too slow for today’s climate reality.
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