Why is this research important for Alberta ag?
Ecological principles can be applied to agriculture practices to replace agrochemicals and increase productivity by implementing either species diversity (e.g. mixed cropping or genetic diversity within species, such as varietal mixture (VM)). VM of several cultivators which belongs to the same market class and exhibit a similar quality profile but variable levels of pest resistance, drought tolerance, and yield potential can be successfully implemented in large scale mechanized farming systems.
The main advantage of VM is to have a package of many desirable traits from different cultivars which are unlikely to be present in one cultivar due to trade-off (e.g. grain yield and protein content are negatively correlated). VMs have been previously studies in wheat and other crops for their performance, especially in low-input environment and organic system.
Despite the usefulness, very little is known about the performance of wheat VMs in response to various pests in large scale mechanized farming systems in western Canada. Therefore, a study on management of pest and diseases is needed to increase the reliability of wheat VMs. This project aims to evaluate the performance of CPSR (Canadian Prairie Spring Red) and CWRS (Canada Western Red Spring) wheat VMs for disease reduction in marginally and conventionally managed lands.
What benefits can producers expect from this research?
Results are expected to help producers decide which wheat VM to use based on characteristics and benefits. This research will evaluate spring wheat cultivar mixture performance for different diseases and pests in western Canada in an attempt to uncover the potential benefits of implementing VM on both marginally and conventionally managed lands.
How will these research findings reach producers on-farm?
New scientific knowledge, intellectual property, and germplasm will be made available to the scientific community and producers through new cultivar releases, newsletters, factsheets, seminars, field tours, and demonstration plots.
Funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.