Meristem: Special Reports: 2007 PRRCG Report

Biofuels, midge resistance, global competitiveness and a new crop class – all were part of the mix along with the recommendations of more than 30 new and improved crop lines for Prairie farmers, as the curtain rose on a new generation of crop development progress at the inaugural Prairie Grain Development Committee (PGDC) annual meeting, Feb. 20-22 in Saskatoon.

"This year's meeting marks the launch of a new era for the recommendation of new crop lines for variety registration on the Canadian prairie," says PGDC Chair Kelly Turkington. "It was the first annual meeting under our new structure as PGDC, whereby our crop-specific committees have greater autonomy, control and flexibility to make decisions in the best interests of their crop category."

This next chapter begins at a time when many new developments are reshaping the crop industry and have major implications for both variety development and Canada's competitiveness in agriculture, says Turkington. "A leading example is the rise in biofuels, which was the focus of our plenary session. Keeping updated on the challenges and opportunities in each of these areas will be critical for the crop development community to support the success of Canadian farmers and their industry."

The PGDC, formerly known as the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain (PRRCG), is a forum for four crop-specific committees, each of which has a mandate to recommend new crop lines for registration as varieties. Recommendations are provided to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which has final authority to grant registration. The PGDC annual meeting also provides a forum for discussion and communication of research priorities for the improvement of the prairie grain sector.

Specifically, the four independent recommending committees that are part of PGDC are responsible for the testing, evaluation and recommending of grain crop candidate cultivars for registration in the Canadian Wheat Board area of Western Canada. These independent recommending committees include committees for wheat, rye and triticale; barley and oat; pulse and special crops; and oilseeds.

At the 2007 meeting, these committees recommended a total of 35 innovative new crop lines for registration, all geared to supporting the bottom line of crop producers and keeping Canada competitive.

In addition to the business of recommending new crop lines, the PGDC annual meeting also included a plenary session featuring four leading speakers on the topic of biofuels. "Our vision for the plenary session under the new PGDC structure is to highlight different emerging areas each year that have implications for a variety of crop types," says Turkington.

The spotlight on biofuels tied in nicely with another major development at the PGDC meeting – the approval of protocols and standards to prepare for the introduction of a new "Canada Western General Purpose" wheat class. "The aim for this new class is essentially to open the door for low protein, high yielding wheat varieties," says Turkington.

Another key development related to pest management was the recommendation of several new wheat lines featuring resistance to wheat midge, which remains the most damaging pest threat to wheat production in Western Canada.

"The Disease Evaluation Team of the Prairie Recommending Committee for Wheat, Rye and Triticale set aside their normal disease guidelines to consider these varieties," says Turkington. "There was a feeling that these lines are unique and they represent some exciting pest management developments for producers in Western Canada."

More information on highlights of the 2007 PGDC meeting, including complete listings and brief descriptions of the 35 new crop lines recommended, is available in a Special Report on the Meristem Land and Science Web site, www.meristem.com. More information on PGDC is available at www.pgdc.ca.

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First look at latest crop lines for Western Canada