The University of Saskatchewan

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Crop Development Centre

• The University of Saskatchewan
• Crop Development Centre
• Presentation to Sask Flax Development Commission
• Dorothy Murrell
• Managing Director, CDC
• January 12, 2009

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Crop Development Centre

• The Crop Development Centre
• is a field crop research organization
• which seeks to improve economic returns for
  farmers
• and the agriculture industry of western Canada
• by improving existing crops,
• creating new uses for traditional crops,
• and developing new crops.

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Crop Development Centre
Or all great ideas boil down to hard work.
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Crop Development Centre

• History of CDC
• Began in 1971 at the U of S with funding from
  National Research Council and Saskatchewan
  Agriculture
• Core group in 70s included Ron Bhatty, Larry
  Gusta, Al Slinkard, Gordon Rowland, Brian Fowler,
  John Burdall, Brian Rossnagel
• Formed to provide long term and continuous
  genetic improvement to the farmers of
  Saskatchewan
• Focused on existing and new crop development,
  with a strong agronomic and extension component
• Has continued to the present day on SMA base
  funding, funding from private and public sources,
  infrastructure support from U of S

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CDC Scientists
Crop Development Centre

• Sabine Banniza
• Pulse pathologist
• Pierre Hucl
• Bread wheat canaryseed breeder
• Curt McCartney
• Cereal pathologist
• Curtis Pozniak
• Durum high yielding
• wheat breeder
• Gordon Rowland
• Flax breeder

• Brian Rossnagel
• Barley and oat breeder
• Tom Warkentin
• Pea breeder
• Bunyamin Taran (SPG)
• Chickpea breeder
• Bert Vandenberg (AFIF Chair)
• Lentil and bean breeder

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Related Scientists
Crop Development Centre

• Kirstin Bett (U of S)
• Bean breeder
• Bob Bors (U of S)
• Small fruit breeder
• Ravi Chibbar (Canada Research Chair)
• Genomics, Carbohydrates
• Bruce Coulman (U of S)
• Forage breeder
• Brian Fowler (U of S)
• Winter wheat breeder
• Bryan Harvey (Prof. Emeritus)
• Six-row barley breeder

• Rick Holm (U of S)
• Weed Scientist
• Mike Nickerson (SMA Research Chair)
• Protein Quality Utilization
• Xiao Qiu
• Lipids
• Martin Reaney (SMA Research Chair)
• Lipids
• Graham Scoles (U of S)
• Molecular Geneticist
• Steve Shirtliffe (U of S)
• Agronomist
• Bob Tyler (U of S)
• Grain Scientist

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Crop Development Centre

• CDC
• General Breeding Goals
• High yield
• Disease resistance
• Appropriate maturity
• Lodging resistance
• End-use quality to meet industry standards
• Specialty traits

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Crop Development Centre

• CDC Outputs
• Varieties
• Germplasm
• Technology
• Basic research and pre-breeding
• Training undergraduate and graduate programs,
  technical
• Technology transfer

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Crop Development Centre

• Partnership
• the relationship between two or more people or
  organizations that are involved in the same
  activity
• cooperation between people or groups working
  together
• an organization formed by two or more people or
  groups who work together for some purpose
• a company set up by two or more people who put
  money into the business and share the financial
  risks and profits

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Crop Development Centre

• CDC Partnerships
• Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture base funding
  of 21.5
• Other funding from
• ADF, NSERC, Genome Prairie, CFI, U of S
• Sask Pulse Growers, WGRF, SFDC, SCDC, SODC Ducks
  Unlimited, Alberta Pulse Growers
• BASF, Brandt Industries, CanOat, Canterra Seeds,
  Cargill, FP Genetics, Grain Millers, Morris
  Industries, Paterson Grain, Parrish Heimbecker,
  Prairie Malt, Quaker, Sapporo, SeCan, Viterra
• 404020 ratio

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Crop Development Centre

• Flax
• Flax
• A strong western Canadian success story
• 40 of world production
• 300 million to farm gate annually
• CDC Program
• 70 of acres
• CDC Vimy, CDC Bethune, CDC Sorrel
• CDC Bethune 472 million 2003-07
• Long term partnerships with growers, seed
  companies, provincial government

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Crop Development Centre

• Flax
• New developments
• Increased focus on basic science molecular
  mapping and marker development for seed quality,
  straw fibre and agronomic traits
• A search for yield
• Specialty oil breeding high oleic, high and low
  linolenic acids
• Herbicide tolerance discussion
• All based on research and funding partnerships
  across institutional and political boundaries

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Crop Development Centre

• Flax Partnerships
• Research and breeding projects are all based on
  partnerships across institutional, sector and
  political boundaries
• Sask Flax Development Commission
• SeCan
• NAFGEN (ABIP)
• NAPGEN (PBI)
• TUFGEN (Genome Canada)

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Flax Opportunities
Crop Development Centre

• Maintain and increase the economic value of
  western Canadas flax industry
• Oil
• Fibre
• Nutraceutical / functional
• Food and Feed

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Flax Challenges
Crop Development Centre

• Agronomics yield, weed control
• Local and global competition
• Adhoc Project Funding
• Slow decision making
• Administrative burden and cost

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Crop Development Centre

• CDC
• Grains Innovation Lab

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Crop Development Centre

• Crop Development Centre
• Creating superior genetics
• for western Canadian farmers