| |
| |
Variety registration in the big picture
Crop-by-Crop Highlights
Background
|
Date posted: March 15, 2006 Building Canada's new strategyThe winds of change blew strong in Banff, Alta., as the committees of the PRRCG recommended new crop lines amid intensive discussion of new ideas for Canadian research and development. With all the challenges facing Canadian agriculture, a clear bright spot is the promise of new crop varieties with improvements and innovations to support the industry and shape a new, more prosperous future. That fact provided an air of optimism and renewal to the picturesque alpine setting, as the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain (PRRCG) held its annual rite of passage for potential new crop varieties in Banff, Alta. In all, the four newly independent crop committees of the PRRCG recommended more than 30 new crop lines for registration, each with a range of important new production and market benefits. But it wasn't just crop upgrades that lent the crisp mountain air a feeling of change. New ideas to dramatically shift the very future of Canada's crop development system - how it's funded, how it operates, who it benefits - were front and centre. A series of thought-provoking presentations and a lively panel discussion brought to light the major issues and fueled debate on how to build a new strategy to re-energize crop development and keep Canadian agriculture competitive. For years, the PRRCG had been a forum for talk of major change. In 2006, it was clear that time of change had arrived. In fact, the year would be the last for the PRRCG as it has been known. With the completion of new structural changes that have been underway, 2007 will mark the first meeting of the new Prairie Grain Development Committee - a name change that reflects a formal shift in power and independence from the main body to each of the PRRCG's former subcommittees. Those former subcommittees - for years known as the Wheat, Rye and Triticale Subcommittee, the Barley and Oat Subcommittee, the Pulse and Special Crops Subcommittee and the Oilseeds Subcommittee - have undergone a transition to become, in name and practice, formal independent recommending committees. Each new committee has undergone a transition to deal directly with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) Variety Registration Office, including operating under its own procedures, as approved by the CFIA. The new Prairie Grain Development Committee will continue an umbrella function to facilitate joint meetings and speak on issues of shared vision. It will consist of the four new committees, along with the Western Canadian Canola / Rapeseed Recommending Committee. Along with updates on structural changes, 2006 PRRCG meeting discussion focused on the farm income crises, Canada's challenges in keeping up with competitors, the implications of genetic ownership and host of other pressing issues, all of which further underscored the need for new approaches to crop research and development. This Meristem Land and Science 2006 PRRCG Report: Building Canada's new strategy is a guide to all the changes and new crop lines to come. It provides a window on a new course for Canada's crop industry - a powerful economic force with widespread bearing on thousands of livelihoods, vast areas of land, the food system and public health. Report sponsors
|
|
 |
© 2006 Meristem Information Resources Ltd. | |
Building Canada's new strategy 
Sponsored by Western Grains Research Foundation, in the interest of informed producer investors in wheat and barley breeding research. Visit the Foundation Web site, 
Additional support from the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain, 
Meristem Land and Science, anchored at