Western Canadian wheat and barley breeding groups say the sector is at an “inflection point” and needs a renewed, collaborative vision to keep delivering better varieties for farmers and end-use customers.
The Canadian Wheat Research Coalition recently brought together stakeholders directly involved in wheat and barley plant breeding in Winnipeg to discuss the future of the sector. Participants included the Canadian Barley Research Coalition, Seeds Canada, the University of Manitoba, the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre and the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta.
In a joint statement Thursday, the groups said they agreed that Western Canada’s wheat and barley breeding system should be innovation-driven, while allowing collaboration and competition to exist side by side. The shared goal is to attract more diverse investment and provide farmers with a wider choice of superior, field-ready varieties that meet market and customer needs.
While the path forward remains under discussion, the group identified nine guiding principles to help shape future decisions. Those include delivering superior field-ready varieties, adopting advanced breeding technologies and data science, recognizing long-term farmer investment, encouraging both competition and collaboration, and securing stable public and private funding.
The principles also call for a system that can generate a sustainable return on investment, attract domestic and global talent, strengthen connections across the plant genetics improvement chain and ensure the regulatory and commercialization system responds to the needs of farmers and end users.
The discussions are expected to continue in the months ahead, with more stakeholders to be consulted.
