b"PLANT BREEDERBreeding Beans for BertaParthiba Balasubramanian is working to breed dry bean varieties specifically for Albertans.PARTHIBA BALASUBRAMANIAN DIDNT plan on becomingUnder Balasubramanians leadership of the dry bean breeding a dry bean breeder. Even though he had grown up in Indiaprogram at AAFC Lethbridge, Alberta farmers have started where pulse crops are a regular part of peoples diets, hisplanting more dry bean varieties which are bred specifically for interest was originally with plant biology, but after beingthe provinces climate and growing conditions. accepted into the agriculture college that changed.I was accepted into the college of agriculture in universityJourney to Albertain India. So that is what led me into plant breeding, ratherBalasubramanian grew up in India, and then moved to Canada than more as a plant biologist. I could have gone either way,after applying to the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) to Balasubramanian explains during a Zoom interview. study for his masters degree. The eager plant breeding student Through a twist of fate Balasubramanian found himselfwrote to his advisor, Al Slinkard, that he wanted to study corn continuing his studies in Canada which led him to discoveror pulses.his dry bean breeding passion. After a pitstop in Manitoba,Slinkard told Balasubramanian that dry bean was a relatively Balasubramanian has spent most of the past decade and a halfnew crop to Saskatchewan, and they were looking for more running the dry bean breeding program at Agriculture and Agri- students to study it and help develop varieties for the Prairie Food Canada (AAFC) Lethbridge.province. Dry beans had been grown in other parts of Canada, What Parthiba has been able to do is listen to the market insuch as Ontario.terms of what's needed, in terms of market classes and qualitiesSlinkard said it's a relatively new crop and we're trying to within market classes, in terms of the seed quality. And toestablish dry bean in Saskatchewan. He said would like me to be able to select and bring to market varieties within eachwork on dry bean and I immediately said yes, Balasubramanian market class that are superior to anything we've been growingexplains.previously, Blair Roth, director of special crops with Viterra,Balasubramanian spent the better part of the next decade explains in a phone interview. completing his masters and PhD degrees at the U of S studying Dry bean breeder Parthiba Balasubramanian at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lethbridge. PHOTOS: PARTHIBA BALASUBRAMANIAN34seed.ab.ca"