The funding model for plant breeding in Canada is at a crossroads. The impending withdrawal of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) from commercializing field-ready cultivars has sparked a conversation about how to fill the resulting gap without losing decades of investment in infrastructure and expertise.
That was the premise of a panel discussion held today at the CrossRoads Crop Conference in Edmonton and facilitated by Alberta Seed Guide editor Marc Zienkiewicz. Panelists were Todd Hyra, western business manager for SeCan; Stuart Smyth, agricultural economist at the University of Saskatchewan; Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC) chair and farmer Dean Hubbard; and SeedNet science advisor and retired AAFC wheat breeder Rob Graf.
Key points included AAFC’s shift towards upstream research, the need for collaboration with universities and private sectors, and the importance of maintaining a robust innovation pipeline. Metrics showed that 75% of wheat varieties come from AAFC, with 21-25 million acres of wheat production in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The discussion emphasized the need for new funding models, public-private partnerships, and the role of farmers in advocating for continued investment in agricultural research.
“If the federal government truly wants to exit [the development of field-ready cultivars], what fills that gap? How do we ensure we don’t lose a century’s worth of resources and investment? This is about having meaningful discussions with the federal government and industry stakeholders to collaboratively determine where responsibilities begin and end,” Hyra said.
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