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Tag Archives plant breeding

Unlocking how plants adjust to their environment is central to Sally Mackenzie’s (right) work in epigenetics.
Crops

Breeding for plant plasticity

Epigenetics has immense potential for helping crops mitigate the effects of climate change

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Genetic manipulations such as RNAi silencing and CRISPR are helping researchers and plant breeders enhance traits and characteristics. The genomic mapping of corn, soybean, wheat and oat creates more opportunities to improve plant growth and desired properties in those crops. Why it matters: Epigenetics could give plant breeders the ability to make crops more resilient […] Read more
Everett Boots loads a seeding tray of a durum variety while Dayle Meyers drives the tractor at the University of Saskatchewan test plots in Saskatoon in 2020.
Crops, News

Where has all the seed money gone?

Funding for new varieties has slowed to a trickle in Canada, particularly for cereal crops

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Glacier FarmMedia – In 2017, people in Canada’s seed industry felt hopeful. Private money was flowing into wheat and pulse crops and investment in variety development was expected to increase in future years. But that projected investment didn’t pan out, particularly for wheat and other cereal crops. Private firms backed away from cereal crop innovation, […] Read more
Roots are capable of measuring heat on their own: study
Crops, News

Roots are capable of measuring heat on their own: study

Science Notes: New insights could further plant breeding

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Plant roots have their own thermometer to measure the temperature of the soil around them and they adjust their growth accordingly. Through extensive experiments, a team led by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), was able to demonstrate that roots have their own temperature sensing and response system. In a new study in The EMBO Journal, scientists […] Read more
Yields are an obvious priority for crop breeders but Kevin Murphy of Washington State University said nutrition can often be overlooked.
Crops

Plant breeder focuses on nutritional value

Researcher wins grant to study improving nutritional quality of barley, wheat, peas, lentils, quinoa and buckwheat

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Glacier FarmMedia – When plant breeders develop a new variety, the goal is a crop that is “the total package.” They want a high-yielding crop with superior disease resistance, tolerant of drought, with excellent end-use qualities and a long list of other traits. Kevin Murphy, a plant breeder at Washington State University, said breeders sometimes […] Read more
Claire Cowan's biggest concern right now is the safety of her colleagues in the Ukraine. Cowan is chief executive officer of North American Plant Genetics, an Ontario company that sells corn seed to Ukrainian farmers.
News

Ontario company finds place in Ukraine

Independent seed company develops market to supply corn seed

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Glacier FarmMedia – Ukraine, a country known for wheat and sunflowers, grows a surprising amount of corn. United States Department of Agriculture data shows Ukraine planted 13 million acres of corn in 2020. Canada had 4.5 million acres of corn in 2020, if silage corn is included. For the seed industry, 13 million acres is […] Read more
File photo of Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau speaking to media in Winnipeg in March 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)
Crops

Bibeau says government committed to federal plant breeding

Seed royalty consultations stalled

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The Canadian government is committed to plant breeding, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told members of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation on Tuesday. Some farmers and seed industry officials suspect Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) variety development work, along with many other programs, will be on the chopping block post-COVID-19 as the government tackles its […] Read more
Crop breeding enhanced through machine learning
News

Crop breeding enhanced through machine learning

Science Notes: Artificial intelligence analyzes large numbers of seeds from a single image

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The establishment of a method to rapidly create elite crop varieties via selective breeding is a matter of urgency to maintain the food supply. In order to select such cultivars, it is necessary to define and evaluate how to identify superior varieties. The shape of seeds is a trait closely linked to the quality and […] Read more
The illustration shows the distribution routes of wheat based on its genetic similarity patterns. They are similar to human migration routes over the same period.
News

Wheat evolution mapped

Wheat gene pools changed in part due to socio-economic factors

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As the world population grows and climate change progresses, food resources could become scarce in the future. That has ramped up the pressure on plant breeders to improve the yield of our staple plants, giving rise to a key question: Can existing varieties be optimized through breeding? To help boost the yield of today’s sorts, […] Read more
Corn in a Waksman Institute of Microbiology field in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Crops, News

Pollen genes mutate naturally in only some strains of corn

Science notes: Breeders have reported some lines are more genetically stable than others

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Pollen genes mutate naturally in only some strains of corn, according to Rutgers-led research that may lead to better breeding of corn and other crops. Scientists at Rutgers University–New Brunswick and Montclair State University looked at gene mutations that arise spontaneously in corn plant pollen. Pollen grains are the male gametes, or reproductive cells, in […] Read more

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