Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG) and Limagrain Field Seeds has announced a new collaboration for pulse breeding in Saskatchewan, Canada.
This new arrangement has a strong commercial focus and will bring new and additional investment into pea and lentil breeding locally in Saskatchewan, increasing competition, and creating a strong environment to foster innovation.
Developing new and better performing varieties of peas and lentils is the focus of the breeding collaboration. Farmers’ priorities and greatest production challenges are at the forefront of the breeding program, with major areas of focus including resistance to root disease in peas and lentils, increased protein content and overall improvements in yield performance under varying conditions.
Breeding will take place in Saskatchewan for the benefit of Saskatchewan producers.
“We’re excited for this new direction in pulse breeding for farmers in Saskatchewan,” SPG’s Shaun Dyrland said. “It’s important to continue fostering innovation and competition in pulse breeding and to bring new perspectives to challenging on-farm issues like root rots and herbicide resistance.
“We believe this new collaboration with Limagrain on pulse breeding will allow for targeting grower priorities and ensuring that growers’ direction and voices are at the table helping to drive new varieties.”
The new Limagrain Field Seeds breeding and research programme will be based at Saskatoon, where a dedicated pulse-breeding team will be created, bringing new expertise in breeding, pathology, molecular genetics, and field trial evaluation to the region.
This technology driven programme will lead to higher-performing varieties being made available to producers more quickly by deploying all available technology to both shorten the breeding cycle and accelerate seed production.
“Limagrain is committed to producing plant-based proteins,” Limagrain Field Seeds’s Régis Fournier said. “Saskatchewan is at the heart of global pulse production, so it makes perfect sense for Limagrain Field Seeds to extend its existing cereal breeding research in Saskatoon, and to now include these two pulse crops.
“Collaboration is a core value for Limagrain and partnering with SPG, a fellow farmer-led organisation is a crucially important component.”
The collaboration has SPG and Limagrain sharing in upfront investments, with future royalties from the sale of new varieties to be shared. SPG will provide input on breeding priorities and ensure that farmers’ voices, needs, priorities, and challenges are driving the goals of the programme every step of the way.
