USask appoints research chair to enhance wheat development

The University of Saskatchewan has appointed a research chair to accelerate wheat variety development.

Dean of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources Dr. Angela Bedard-Haughn says in a news release the role of Dr. Valentyna Klymiuk will be to "design and deploy leading-edge strategies and technologies to assess genetic diversity for delivery into new crop varieties that will benefit Saskatchewan producers and the agricultural industry,”

“We are grateful to Sask Wheat for investing in USask research as we work to develop the innovative products that strengthen global food security.” added Bedard-Haughn.

"I am thrilled to join the CDC and the College of Agriculture and Bioresources as I work to discover and deploy new traits to support our variety development programs. My vision is to bridge advances in science and technology with applied crop breeding, contributing to the CDC’s mission of delivering superior wheat varieties that strengthen the resilience of the agricultural sector,” said Klymiuk. 

The position of research chair is funded by the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (SaskWheat).

Chair of SaskWheat Jake Leguee says they are proud to "fund this research chair to enhance wheat productivity and profitability" for producers.

Better adapted wheat varieties give Saskatchewan producers more effective tools in their rotational toolbox,” said Leguee, “We strongly believe in public wheat breeding programs and as a producer I have seen first-hand the superior wheat varieties that come from program investments like this research chair. "