Crop genetics — variety improvements over the past two decades
Over the past two decades, the average Canadian yield of spring wheat has increased from 35 to 40 bu/ac to around 50 bu/ac.9 Genetics has played a crucial part in the increase in yield, along with agronomic management. Common varieties of wheat and barley have improved drastically thanks to driving forces in the industry, with more developments to look forward to in the near future.
Putting popular varieties side-by-side, today, the most common spring wheat variety is AAC Brandon, registered in 2014, followed by AAC Viewfield, registered in 2017.1 2 4 Two decades ago, one of the most common spring wheat varieties was AC Barrie, registered in 1994.8 According to the Alberta Seed Guide, AAC Brandon has an average yield of 75 bu/ac across 101 site years of testing, while AC Barrie yields 59 bu/ac, a 16 bu/ac or 21 per cent yield difference. Besides yield, today’s popular varieties tend to have better disease packages. For example, AAC Brandon is moderately resistant (MR) to Fusarium head blight (FHB), the highest level of resistance across varieties of spring wheat achieved so far. On the contrary, AC Barrie only had fair tolerance for FHB. A similar trend is observed in stripe rust.4 Overall, today’s common varieties have higher yield potential and better disease packages—significant improvements from two decades ago.
This brings the question of: what are the driving forces behind these improvements? In Western Canada, wheat variety improvements are dominated by public breeding, with private companies emerging. In the public sector, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) breeding network plays a crucial role. AAFC’s network allows for the collaboration of resources. For example, to improve disease packages, the Lethbridge Research Station oversees screening for common bunt resistance; while FHB is screened at the disease nursery in Brandon, Manitoba. The AAFC system allows for comprehensive screening and ensures high-quality breeding materials are available to improve the agronomic, disease and quality factors of new varieties. AAC Brandon, AAC Viewfield, and AAC Penhold are examples of varieties that came from the AAFC breeding program. In addition to AAFC, the Crop Development Center in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is another driving force of change. Varieties such as CDC Go and CDC Landmark were developed through their breeding program.
Canadian wheat and barley varieties go through multiple layers of screening to ensure their performance. Before registration, promising breeding lines go through co-op trials, which compare them side-by-side, across Western Canada, with the current varieties on the market. Varieties get approval from Prairie Grain Development Committee (PGDC) if they have advantages over current varieties. After registration, new varieties enter the Regional Variety Trial (RVT), a trial network that spans across 13 locations in Alberta. The data collected from RVTs enter the Alberta Seed Guide, which is updated each year and serves as a non-biased resource in variety selection. In the Alberta Seed Guide, you will find a wide range of information to help with variety selection, including yield potential, test weight, thousand kernel weight, lodging resistance and disease resistance.4
The future of variety development is bright! The advances in genetic technologies, computing and artificial intelligence will help in decoding the complicated genomics of wheat. The approval of gene editing in breeding provides another tool to improve the varieties.3 Going forward, breeders will continue to improve the varieties based on the needs of farmers and the agricultural industry. Yield potential, agronomic traits, pest resistance and end-use quality of wheat varieties will be priorities.6 On top of that, amid the foreseeable challenges, farmers can expect more research in regards to heat and drought tolerance and higher nutrient use efficiency.5 7 What will varieties look like in two decades? It is challenging to predict. But it is without question that the continued investment in research and technology will shape the future of crop genetics.
References:
1 AAC Brandon hard red spring wheat. https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjps-2016-0150
2 AAC Viewfield hard red spring wheat. https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjps-2018-0147
3 AAFC. 2023. The Government of Canada moves forward with plant breeding innovation while upholding the integrity of the organic sector. https://www.canada.ca/en/agriculture-agri-food/news/2023/05/the-government-of-canada-moves-forward-with-plant-breeding-innovation-while-upholding-the-integrity-of-the-organic-sector.html
4 Alberta Seed Guide. https://www.seed.ab.ca/magazine/
5 Andreas Stahl et al. 2019. Effect of breeding on nitrogen use efficiency-associated traits in oilseed rape, Journal of Experimental Botany, Volume 70, Issue 6, Pages 1969–1986, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erz044
6 Genome Prairie. 2022. The Future of Wheat is Now. https://genomeprairie.ca/the-future-of-wheat-is-now/ 7 Improved winter wheat cultivars for Western Canada. Top Crop Manager. https://www.topcropmanager.com/improved-winter-wheat-cultivars-for-western-canada/#:~:text=Over%20the%20past%2010%20to,use%20quality%20and%20higher%20yields
8 McCaig, T. N., DePauw, R. M., Clarke, J. M., McLeod, J. G., Fernandez, M. R., & Knox, R. E. (1996). AC Barrie hard red spring wheat. Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 76(2), 337-339. https:/cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.4141/cjps96-059
9 Statistics Canada. 2023. Estimated areas, yield, production, average farm price and total farm value of principal field crops, in metric and imperial units. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=3210035901