Genetic analysis of a new landrace panel for Atlantic Canada

Although wheat is one of the world’s most important food products and the largest field crop in Canada, there is still huge potential to boost wheat production in the Atlantic provinces. Ideally, Atlantic Canada could become an example of how to produce wheat in innovative and sustainable ways. However, modern breeding has left us with plants that are designed for unsustainable conditions (e.g., excessive nitrogen fertilizers) and not designed for the unique environments of Atlantic Canada. To solve these problems, we are developing a new genetic resource for the future of sustainable wheat production in Atlantic Canada. Our new collection comes from ancient wheat ‘landraces’ and harnesses the global diversity of wheat that existed before modern breeding. This project is an initial genetic study of the new landrace collection, aiming to identify genes for local disease resistance and the ability to survive the Atlantic Canada winter. More generally, with this project the Atlantic Grains Council aims to develop a new research tool for increasing the sustainability and profitability of wheat farming in Atlantic Canada.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jay Biernaskie

Student:

Partner:

Atlantic Grains Council

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

St. Francis Xavier University

Program: