Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay and Dr. Keith Degenhardt, Vice-Chair of the farmer-funded Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), announced today their renewed commitment to wheat and barley variety development in Canada. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the WGRF have signed a new five-year research support agreement for AAFC wheat and barley breeding.
Under this renewed partnership with AAFC, WGRF will invest more than $21 million to support AAFC's western wheat and barley breeding programs until 2020. These funds, derived from farmer check-offs on wheat and barley sold in western Canada, represent the biggest ever industry investment in AAFC research. It will underpin AAFC's scientific capacity in plant pathology and physiology, entomology and grain quality and will enable specialized research equipment upgrades in support of all disciplines.
This partnership with WGRF will support AAFC research on:
- Potentially devastating wheat and barley diseases, such as Fusarium Head Blight;
- Enhancing insect resistance;
- Environmental stresses, like drought and flooding; and
- Developing genetic markers for plant breeding selection.
Source : AAFC