Investing in research that makes sense for farmers
Click the icons below or type a keyword in the search bar to view AWC-funded research related to your on-farm challenge.
Research is Alberta Wheat Commission's largest investment for a reason. Development of new, improved wheat genetics and best management practices will be key to helping producers adapt to changing environments, government policies and both domestic and international market demands, all while maximizing their profit.
Click the icons below or type a keyword in the search bar to view AWC-funded research related to your on-farm challenge.
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Stomata are small openings found on plant surfaces that mediate gas exchange with the surrounding atmosphere. This structure is important for photosynthesis and water use efficiency as they control the amount of CO2 inta…
This project will use systems thinking to identify synergies between advanced agronomic practices to maximize the profitability of Alberta growers. Using a systems approach, approximately 50 different management systems …
Wireworms are a soil-dwelling pest that attacks wheat seeds and seedlings. The pest has re-emerged as a problem across Canada in wheat and other crops such as potato. This project will contribute to the integrated pest m…
Fusarium head blight and leaf diseases have become a serious threat to Alberta wheat growers. To manage leaf disease, some growers apply a sub-lethal rate of fungicide tank-mixed with herbicide at early growth stages. Gr…
This project supports continued research and development activities of the Canadian Western Hard Red Spring (CWRS) wheat breeding program at the University of Alberta. We have released 11 CWRS cultivars and educated many…
This proposal provides stable funding to the high yield spring wheat breeding program at the UofA, supporting the long-term objectives of developing cultivars with high yield, early maturity and disease resistance. This …
Our aim is to develop a more efficient doubled haploid (DH) production process through utilization of isolated microspore culture. Comparative genomics will be applied to screen for important factors critical to the prod…
Genetic resistance has long been proven to the best and most sustainable way to mitigate the damage caused to the wheat crop by diseases such as fusarium head blight (FHB), leaf rust (LR), stipe rust (YR) or powdery mild…
Although the strains of rust are a real threat to Canada’s food supply, the rust strains that need to be used for selection in breeding resistance are not found in Canada at this time. The use of DNA markers allows bre…
Over the last decade an increasing portion of the Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat cultivars released have carried height-reducing genes (Rht) while the majority of Canada Prairie Spring (CPS) cultivars have been s…
Wheat is one of the most ubiquitously grown and consumed food in the world. Wheat is a staple food for nearly a third of the world population, and is expected that demand will grow tremendously to feed approximately doub…
This 4 year project proposes to increase grain yield by manipulating the cellular carbon flux to improve productivity in wheat varieties. By using genome editing technology, the primary regulatory enzyme (mitochondrial p…
Wheat is a major crop in western Canada, grown in rotation with pulses and canola, and is fundamental to sustainable production systems that minimize soil erosion risk and break disease cycles. Wheat production in wester…
Wheat production in western Canada is affected by a variety of diseases with ever-evolving dynamic populations, which causes significant economic losses every year. Due to population shifts and/or mutations, and the appe…
Winter durum wheat has the potential to be a high value, high yielding cereal crop for Alberta farmers. The research objective of this project is to evaluate existing winter durum lines and develop new winter durum popul…
To increase the genetic diversity of the Canadian wheat pool, this research proposes to utilize a proven strategy, nested association mapping (NAM), a multiple-parental breeding population approach to explore synthetic h…
Plant diseases are responsible for at least 10% of yield losses in global food production. Incidence and severity of two important cereal crop diseases, Fusarium head blight (FHB) and tan spot, are increasing with the im…
This 4 year project will analyze 60 Canadian wheat genomes, combined with comparative analysis of available stem and stripe rust information, to select for important virulence factors against wheat. These genomic informa…
Early maturity in wheat is important for timely harvest to avoid frost damage and other harvest and post-harvest problems. A better understanding of maturity will help ensure higher and better quality wheat yields for co…
Over the last 15 years, significant progress has been made at the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at the University of Saskatchewan in the development of high yielding, shorter, stronger-strawed cultivars that meet the nee…
Severe epidemics of stripe rust may cause up to 50% yield losses. Stripe rust has been observed every year in western Canada, with serious epidemics reported in 5 of last 10 years. Recent epidemics result from the pathog…
This two years proposal is a proof of concept for the introduction of the N2 biological fixation pathway into mitochondria of crops. The nitrogen fixation (Nif) cluster will be introduced into triticale mitochondria usin…
There are many diseases of wheat that cause yield losses and reduce grain quality. One way to control diseases is to breed wheat varieties that carry disease resistance genes. Genetic resistance has the benefit of reduci…
Our aim is to develop a simple and reliable method of gene editing in wheat and to improve on the current method used by breeders to produce doubled haploids (DH). By having maize deliver gene editing machinery during th…
High-nitrogen (N) fertilizer increases yield. It also increases production costs to wheat growers, and excess N fertilizer causes environmental and health risks. The proposed study furthers our previous work to examine t…
The use of sourdough in industrial baking reduces ingredient cost, achieves “clean label” solutions by replacement of additives, and the quality of bread. Fermentations are carried out at the bakery or by specialized…
This 3 year project will identify which varieties of wheat, oat, and barley are affected by Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs), and whether PGRs are useful applications for lodging resistance. Timing for PGR application will…
While the short-term benefits of ultra-early seeding are straight-forward – improved labour distribution during seeding, increased yield potential, integrated weed management benefits, perhaps the mid to long term impl…
Production of winter wheat on the Canadian Prairies is perceived risky as current cultivars have insufficient low temperature tolerance to guarantee consistent winter survival. Breeding for higher cold hardiness in winte…
This 4 year proposal aims to translate the latest innovative genomic technologies to the wheat breeding programs. The research will focus on the deployment of new innovative technologies including a DNA marker breeder ch…
The major component of this project is to continue the development of improved, field-ready winter wheat cultivars of the CWRW wheat class for western Canada by simultaneously targeting higher grain yield and improved lo…
This investigation will determine if early plantings of cold-tolerant cultivars coupled with optimum agronomics will extend the growing season and achieve or exceed attainable spring wheat yield with improved system stab…
As a major durum wheat breeding program in Canada, the varieties released by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada -Swift Current Research Development Centre occupy over 84% of the durum acreage on average in western Canada. …
This research project evaluates intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium) for disease resistance genes that can be transferred to wheat. A combination of phenotypic evaluation, molecular analysis and intergeneric …
The University of Manitoba winter wheat breeding program is well established. The primary objectives of the wheat breeding program are to develop Canada Western Special Purpose (CWSP) Winter (30% of material) and C…
Increasing cereal competitiveness is an important priority to the grains and livestock sector of Alberta. New high yielding wheat lines can be developed specifically for various growing regions (north, central, and south…
This project will develop winter wheat varieties for Alberta and all of western Canada with CWRS-like quality characteristics while increasing/maintaining yield, winter survival and disease resistance. The goal is to red…
Understanding the basis of early maturity in wheat may lessen the use of herbicides through improved competition with weeds, and may also improve the quality of harvested wheat. This research will use techniques of both …
Understanding the basis of early maturity in wheat may lessen the use of herbicides through improved competition with weeds, and may also improve the quality of harvested wheat. This research will use techniques of both …
A simple, paper based mycotoxin testing platform was created previously to detect mycotoxins that may contaminate major food crops. This 3 year research proposal aims to upgrade the platform for use in farms, grain eleva…
This 3 year research project aims to monitor incidence and severity of stripe rust in Alberta through annual surveys, determining the virulence of prevalent wheat races, and identification and characterizing new sources …
Several management and cultural practices, host plant resistance, chemical and biological control measures have been suggested to control Fusarium head blight (FHB). However, genetic resistance is considered to be the mo…
Fusarium head blight (FHB), also known as ‘scab’, is a devastating disease of cereal crops caused by a necrotrophic fungus, Fusarium graminearum and related species. The fungus produces trichothecene toxins (includin…
This project will help better understand the genetics of FHB resistance and generate resistant germplasm in Canadian wheat background to facilitate development of FHB resistant cultivars.
Proposed research project aimed to generate and deploy novel genomic tools for breeding of future generation of Canadian wheat and barley cultivars that are tolerant to PHS. This will enhance grain quality and quantity, …
The proposed research identifies new genes that provide a unique opportunity to facilitate wheat breeding for mitigating the problem of pre-harvest sprouting.
The number of unique herbicide resistant weed / site of action combinations continue to increase in western Canada and around the world. The lack of new herbicides with a unique mechanism of action is leading to the dev…
Among the research priorities listed by the Alberta Wheat Commission for March 2020 was “Integrated Maturity Management – Genetic selection for early maturing varieties in combination with management practices which …
In western Canada, particularly Alberta, stripe rust is an emerging threat to wheat production and breeders have started to breed for resistance relatively recently.
Cereal crops are high-value staple crops for humans (cereal grain crops, including wheat) and feed for livestock (grain and forage crops, including triticale and wheat). Cereal crop growth is limited by nitrogen (N) avai…
Ecological principles can be applied to agricultural practices to replace agrochemicals and increase productivity by implementing either species diversity e.g. mixed cropping or genetic diversity within species e.g. vari…
PSR breeding should be accelerated to keep pace with growing global demand and to maintain yield advantage. Genomic Selection (GS) is a molecular breeding tool that facilitates the selection of lines with genotypic infor…
The objectives for this program are to assist breeding programs in the development of Fusarium head blight-resistant wheat and barley for producers in western Canada.
The project is expected to generate useful tools to track rust changes in Canada and identify resistance in already genotyped elite lines.
Through this proposal, in collaboration with AAFC’s Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) breeders, we propose to assess the adaptability of wheat germplasm for arid environments for the long-term sustainability of agricult…
An integrated approach with targeted and environmentally friendly tools is needed to most sustainably manage wireworm. We aim to address the wireworm problem in wheat by developing RNAi as a tool for wireworm suppr…
The proposed research aims to translate the research findings of a recently concluded upstream research project where novel genetic sources of resistance against pathogens including stripe rust (330 different putative R …