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The Wheat Midge
The wheat midge had been present on the prairies for many years
without causing any real problems. However, in the 1980s the
population suddenly increased dramatically and began to cause serious
losses in eastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is still not clear
whether the increase resulted from some change in the environment or
the loss of a parasite on the midge. Resistance to the midge is
difficult to find but breeding work is underway.
Wheat Research Centres in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
AAFC has three major wheat research centres-the Cereal Research
Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Lethbridge Research Centre,
Lethbridge, Alberta, and the Semi-Arid Prairie Agricultural Research
Centre (SPARC), Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
The work of the Cereal Research Centre, Winnipeg has been outlined
above.
SPARC is located in one of the driest areas of Saskatchewan. In
addition to the sawfly resistance program mentioned above, it has
major breeding programs for Canada Prairie Spring and Canada Western
Amber Durum. wheats. The Centre is also known for its soils and
agronomic work on wheat production under semi-arid conditions.
Although the Lethbridge Research Centre did pioneering work on sawfly
resistance, its wheat research now involves breeding new cultivars of
Soft White Spring Wheat for production under irrigation and Hard Red
Winter Wheat.
University of Saskatchewan
The Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan has
large breeding programs for Canada Western Red Spring, Canada Prairie
Spring and Canada Western Amber Durum. It has also been the leader in
developing production methods and new cultivars for Hard Red Winter
Wheat. In addition to work on rust resistance, research on leaf
diseases is being carried out.
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is the most northern of the wheat
research centres and has always been interested in developing early
cultivars. It is also near the only sizeable area of acidic soils on
the prairies and is carrying out research on and breeding for
resistance to aluminum toxicity.
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba produced Glenlea, the first cultivar
in the Canada Western Extra Strong class. It is continuing to develop
CWES wheats and also winter-hardy, rust-resistant Hard Red Winter
Wheats.
Alberta Agriculture
The Alberta government funds a breeding program aimed at
developing red and white-seeded winter wheats adapted to the regions
where snow mold is a problem.
Visits
Participants in the Ninth International Wheat Genetics Symposium
who wish to visit one or more of the research centres before or after
the Symposium should contact the centre ahead of time. Arrangements
can then be made for their visit.
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