U of G Researchers Breeding the Perfect Wheat to Resist Disease

On Canadian wheat fields, a silent threat is shriveling the golden yields of wheat.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), a disease caused by a fungal pathogen, is devastating crops, producing mycotoxins that can rapidly damage plants, wither the kernels in the head of wheat and cost the economy billions of dollars in damaged goods. 

Climate change is only fanning the fungus. Hotter temperatures and heavier rainfall are the ideal breeding ground for the FHB pathogen, as more spores are released in the warm, moist conditions becoming increasingly common on Ontario’s farms. 

On the frontlines of this battle is Dr. Helen Booker, leader of the wheat breeding program at the University of Guelph. For the last four years, the plant agriculture professor has been meticulously breeding wheat varieties to withstand FHB and other diseases and testing them at sites in Ontario’s network of crop research centres.  

As Canada is a global supplier of wheat, and the majority of winter wheat is produced in Ontario, Booker’s hope is to give farmers a fighting chance to ensure that wheat remains a dependable source of food for the entire world.  

“Our lab was considered essential during the pandemic,” Booker says. “We can’t just stop. And because the end-use market for most winter wheat in Ontario is for the production of flour for pastries, pizza dough and bread, we can’t have contaminated grain. That’s not an option.”