The University of Alberta wheat breeding program has registered and commercialized 13 CWRS varieties and one CPS variety since 2013. Sixteen MSc. students (13 graduated); 17 PhD students (14 graduated); 6 Post-Doctoral Fellows; and 3 Visiting Scientists have been involved with the program since 2002. These graduates are working as scientists, biologists, researchers and professors in Alberta, western Canada and globally. The program has published over 130 refereed scientific articles in that time as well.
Read MoreThere is a large amount of economic literature that examines return to investments in public agricultural research in breeding. The predominance of evidence suggests the rate to return to public agricultural research is persistently high across a large number of agricultural subsectors, jurisdictions, and time periods. In Western Canada, there are several studies, including those we have been involved with, that show very high internal rates of return of investments in agricultural applied research and breeding. These returns are easily verified with simple calculations looking at the gross annual research benefit and weighted average increases over time.
Read MoreWe aim to integrate long-term data on management, soils, crops, and weather to provide a holistic view of how changes in management impact soils over time, and how these changes in "soil health" could buffer the cropping system and alleviate the impact of future perturbations. Our research questions include: (1) Do farming practices deemed to "invest in soil health" pay off over short- and long-term timescales in the semi-arid Canadian prairies? (2) If so, how can farmers invest in soil health while maintaining profitability and stability under a changing climate?
Read MoreThe present proposal combines the results of previous studies to determine optimal varietal choice and planting time; employing early- and late- planting with early- and late- maturing cultivars presently available to western Canadian wheat growers. This will aid in refining best management practices for optimal yield and harvest quality (including protein and falling number) for hard red spring wheat production in western Canada.
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