b"as they are self-replicating and exhibit highare used in various ways. The levies use of farmer saved seed, Lassoued andfund operations for the commissions, Smyth wrote.including organizational expenses along Over the years, breeding priorities havewith funding agronomic and varietal shifted in Canada with private companiesdevelopment research. Alberta Grains taking over breeding certain crops and,collects $1.09 per metric ton for wheat in some cases, commercializing the workand $1.2209 per metric ton for barley of the public sector. At Agriculture andfrom farmers in Alberta, approximately Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the publicly50 to 60 cents per metric ton, which is funded breeding program focuses onthen allocated towards plant breeding. breeding crops that dont have largeAt Alberta Pulse Growers (APG), private investment dollars. AAFC hasapproximately 15 to 20 per cent of core funding agreements with variousthe levies collected go toward varietal producer groups for breeding and worksdevelopment. with other public researchers such as thoseThe crop commissions have various at universities. funding agreements in place with Historically, AAFC has played a majordifferent breeding programs. APG has role in crop development for Westernagreements with public breeders at research Nasima Junejo, research manager for AlbertaCanadian farmers. The governmentstations, including AAFC Lethbridge Grains breeding program played a pivotal role infor bean breeding and AAFC Lacombe the development of canola from rapeseed.and the Crop Development Centre at During the Cold War there was the ideathe University of Saskatchewan for pea that Canada needed to be able to growbreeding. The pulse commission also and make its own vegetable oil. Scientistspartners with breeding programs at private at AAFC Saskatoon took the lead oncompanies, such as Limagrain, DL Seeds, AAFC has takenlooking into possible options and, throughand Equinom for pea and fababeansthe lead where thecollaboration with university researchers,these agreements are coordinated and were able to develop canolanow a stapleoverseen through Robyne Davidson at science would haveWestern Canadian crop. Lakeland College.been very risky forAAFC has taken the lead where theWe typically have agreements that science would have been very risky forrun in five-year cycles. This allows us to private companies.private companies. Knowing that therecommunicate the needs of farmers to the Franois Eudes were no crushing plants, there was noscientists and helps us to provide some value chain existing in Canada at thedirection for the genetic selection process, time. So that's where the public sectorShane Strydhorst, chair of APG, explains has an important role to play, to workin a phone interview. on some ideas that are not market ready,To decide how the commission will Franois Eudes, the director of research,dole out its varietal development funding development and technology in the sciencedollars, APG receives proposals from and technology branch at AAFC, says in abreeders, which are then vetted by a phone interview. committee comprised of farmers, scientific Some of these riskier breedingexperts, and industry reps. The committee endeavours are where funding from themakes recommendations to the APG federal government comes into play. Asboard of directors regarding which farmers look for options to diversify theirbreeding projects to fund, who then makes crop rotations economically, AAFC hasthe final decision on which programs the continued its work on breeding pulseproducer commission will fund. crops while also maintaining its breedingAlberta Grains takes a similar agreements with the cereals industryapproach to deciding how to fund through groups such as the Canadianvarietal development. The organization Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC). Thesets up proposed research priorities CWRC is a coalition with Alberta Grains,considering the national wheat and barley Saskatchewan Wheat Developmentorganizations priorities alongside regional Commission and Manitoba Crop Alliance.concerns. From there, they consult with Shane Strydhorst, chair of Alberta Pulse Growers,For the crop commissions, the leviesdelegates in every growing region in the on a research plot tour. PHOTO: ALBERTA PULSE GROWERS collected from producers crop salesprovince through surveys. Once the 18seed.ab.ca"