Canada
March 4, 2024
CANTERRA SEEDS has established itself as a trailblazer in the seed breeding world by forging a partnership with Limagrain Cereals Research Canada (LCRC) in the pursuit of innovative plant breeding in Canada.
In 2015, CANTERRA SEEDS partnered with France’s Limagrain to form LCRC. This combined venture focuses on breeding new wheat varieties that have the traits and disease resistance that Western Canadian farmers need now. LCRC’s mission is to bring cutting-edge varietals to market in an expedited timeline.
“Collectively, we need to recognize that variety development and the improvement of plant genetics are paramount for the future prosperity of Canadian agriculture,” says Brent Derkatch, CANTERRA SEEDS CEO.
As a founding partner, CANTERRA SEEDS not only provides market input, but also has exclusive access to the innovative varieties LCRC develops. With these varieties, CANTERRA SEEDS customers can be confident that they are planting seeds of the highest quality and highest yielding that will stand strong against a wide host of threats.
Located in Saskatoon, LCRC works alongside CANTERRA SEEDS to bring together germplasm, modern technology, innovative plant breeding and expert market knowledge to deliver the best possible seed breeds to Western Canadian growers. With access to their parent company, Limagrain, LCRC uses their expansive library of genes and traits from around the world to develop high-yielding varieties with disease tolerance and specific traits to meet growers’ needs.
When breeding new seed varieties, the initial cross rapidly progresses through multiple generations each year and is eventually tested in various field trials. These trials test agronomic traits, including yield, standability and maturity, and are screened to test resistance to key diseases that impact farmers, such as fusarium head blight, leaf rust, stem rust, stripe rust and bacterial leaf streak.
Since the partnership began, LCRC has developed two wheat varieties, CS Daybreak and CS Accelerate, which are both high-yielding varieties with excellent disease resistance and physical quality. Several other new cereal seed varieties, including spring wheat, barley and white oats are on the horizon and expected to be introduced to the market soon. CANTERRRA SEEDS and LCRC will continue to launch seed varietals designed for Western Canadian growers as they are ready for market release.
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