Wheat, Rye and Triticale Subcommittee

The Wheat, Rye and Triticale Subcommittee evaluates lines based on agronomic performance, disease resistance and end-use quality. Here are highlights of key activity at the 2002 meeting.

FHB-resistant Alsen supported for interim registration to allow seed multiplication

Western Canadian farmers may have their first wheat variety with good resistance to Fusarium head blight within two years.

In a rare move, the PRRCG recommended Alsen — the hard red spring wheat from North Dakota — for one-year interim registration after only one year of pre-registration testing. Alsen will have to complete two more years of performance testing and meet the criteria of the Canada Western Red Spring wheat class, but if all goes well, it could become widely available to Canadian farmers in 2004.

If approved by CFIA, the interim registration will allow Canterra Seeds Ltd. to begin seed multiplication in Canada. Under most circumstances, Canadian seed companies can begin seed multiplication before registration. But because Alsen is a registered American variety, import restrictions and other seed regulations had prevented Canterra from beginning seed multiplication, prompting its request for interim registration.

Canterra does have the option of purchasing seed from the U.S. to sell to Canadian farmers at the time of registration in Canada, but rejected the option because of cost.

Alsen is not fully immune to Fusarium head blight, but has better resistance than current Canadian varieties. Alsen has several other valuable traits and is widely grown in spring-wheat production areas of the Western and Midwestern U.S. The line received 49 votes out of 64 cast to support the one-year interim registration.

If Alsen continues to perform well in the co-op trials in 2002, Canterra will ask for a one-year extension of the interim registration, giving it another year to continue multiplication.

Among those opposing the interim registration, one argument was that not enough quality information was available and no decision should be until the American variety has undergone all three years of pre-registration testing. Another argument was that a decision in favour of Alsen would condone farmers who have already been growing Alsen, thereby encouraging more production of unregistered wheat crops. Since Alsen meets the kernel visual distinguishability (KVD) guidelines for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat, farmers will be able to deliver Alsen into the CWRS system in 2002 if the PRRCG recommendation is upheld by CFIA.

Agronomy supported as key to merit testing

Members of the Wheat, Rye and Triticale Subcommittee voted overwhelmingly in support of keeping agronomic merit as a requirement for registration. The vote came in response to the CFIA’s proposal for revamping the variety registration system, which would remove agronomic merit as a required criterion.

The CFIA proposal calls for milling wheat to be placed in Schedule A (i), which requires merit assessment for disease and quality performance, but not for agronomic performance. The agronomic requirement is simply to provide evidence that a minimum of one year of agronomic data has been collected, for the purpose of making this information available to farmers and other interested parties.

The subcommittee essentially supported the status quo, including the condition that all wheat lines, not just milling wheat, are subject to merit requirements in agronomy, disease and quality. Many argued that eliminating agronomic merit as a requirement would discourage rigorous collection of agronomic data, making it difficult for both researchers and farmers to select the best crop lines.

Subcommittee votes to breakaway from PRRCG

A motion for the Wheat, Rye and Triticale Subcommittee to break away from PRRCG and form its own recommending committee received overwhelming support by the subcommittee. The consensus among voting members was that the subcommittee would have more control over its operating procedures outside the PRRCG umbrella.

Since recommending committees derive their status from the CFIA, that body will have to approve the change before it can be implemented.

Every crop type is unique, and one of the main arguments for breaking away was that a recommending committee focused on wheat would be better positioned to deal with the intricacies of the evaluating the crop, including the strict quality requirements. If the breakaway is successful, the PRRCG will still include the Pulse and Special Crops Subcommittee, Barley and Oat Subcommittee and Oilseeds Subcommittee.

Roundup Ready wheat data sanctioned

Performance information from the 2001 Roundup Ready wheat co-op trials received a stamp of approval from the subcommittee. The decision means Roundup Ready wheat is on track to enter its second of three years of registration testing, and lines could be put forward as candidates for registration as early as 2004.

In 2001, Monsanto’s attempt to establish a private registration trial for its Roundup Ready wheat was initially blocked by the subcommittee over fears of pollen flow to commercial fields. After new guidelines were proposed, including larger buffer zones, the subcommittee approved the trial by a majority vote.

New vision presented for segregation system

The Canadian Grain Commission presented its vision for shifting away from Kernel Visual Distinguishability, the long-established process for wheat identification. The system has served as a cornerstone of Canada’s wheat segregation system, but with an increasing number or registered varieties, along with the emerging potential for genetically modified crops, the Commission and others are preparing a new system.

The Commission reported that it has set up an industry committee, which will submit a report this year with the recommendation to implement an affidavit system. This means producers would be required to declare the variety makeup of their wheat shipments, and would then be held responsible for any misrepresentation. This affidavit system would include a stringent testing process.

Still, the affidavit system is not a long-term solution. The Commission said it would serve as an interim measure, until new, science-based testing systems are implemented. It expects several more years are needed to fully develop a science-based system that would quickly and cost-effectively identify the particular grain varieties in a shipment.

This section is sponsored in part by Western Grains Research Foundation, in the interest of informed producer investors in wheat and barley breeding research. More information on wheat and barley breeding research is available on the Western Grains Research Foundation Web site, www.westerngrains.com.

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