University of Alberta Student Wins International Organic Scholarship

By Brenda Frick, Ph.D., P.Ag.

Todd Reid, a PhD student at the University of Alberta in Edmonton was awarded the Organic Crop Improvement Association Research & Education (OCIA R&E) 2008 Scholarship for his research on crop breeding for competitive organic spring wheat. Todd is looking at the inheritance of competitive ability in spring wheat, and determining if wheat lines selected under organic management differ from those selected under conventional management.

OCIA RnE is an organization of organic farmers that facilitates research to benefit organic farming and encourages education about organic farming. It is an international group with membership primarily in Canada the United States and Latin America.

Todd’s project will benefit organic producers by providing them with information that will help them select competitive wheat varieties. “This should help them improve both crop yield and weed management on their farms” said Todd. Todd’s research goes far beyond simple variety trials. He hopes to determine how different aspects of competitive ability are inherited and how these aspects differ when selected under organic or conventional cropping systems. In the long term Todd hopes his research will provide some additional tools for plant breeders in breeding wheat cultivars better adapted to organic systems.

Plant competition is a complicated process. Competitive ability in wheat is believed to involve many different aspects, such as seedling vigour, early growth rate, leaf width, leaf angle, height, and so forth. Essentially, these aspects relate to how the plant commandeers resources and claims space.

Todd’s project considers specific aspects of competition such as canopy closure. The crop canopy is considered closed when crop leaves block the light from reaching the ground. Once the canopy closes, weed seedlings are shaded, and the competitive advantage goes to the crop. In wheat, the canopy closes because the wheat produces many stems and because the stems grow at angles. Todd is looking at the relationship between number of stems and plant spread.

Todd is looking at selection indices. These are used to select for many traits at once. This is especially useful in breeding for competitive ability, because a plants ability to compete is controlled by a multitude of factors. Todd compared more than 100 wheat lines, grown with and without competition to create his selection indices. This work should allow researchers to more quickly and effectively develop competitive varieties.

Todd’s research also provides evidence for the need to create an organic wheat breeding system. Todd crossed very different wheat varieties to produce 79 different breeding lines. He grew these under organic and under conventional management and monitored their performance, selecting the best for each management system. He found that many of the best performing lines, selected under organic management were different than the best performing lines selected under conventional management. This is exciting news, as it suggests, as organic producers have often claimed, that organic producers would benefit from wheat breeding specifically in organic systems, producing organic wheat cultivars. It may also spur interest in other field crops, and even horticultural crops.

Throughout his research, Todd has worked in collaboration with organic producers, conducting trials on-farm, and sharing these results at farm field days. His collaboration with farmers “has shown me that producers care about research and have a vested interest in the outcomes.” Todd plans to include organic breeding in any program he develops in his future plant breeding career. It has challenged him to approach agriculture with the whole system in mind.

Todd is the fourth winner of the OCIA RnE scholarship. Although this scholarship is available and extensively advertised throughout North America, three of the four scholarship winners so far have been Canadian. Jacqueline Pridham from the University of Manitoba won the scholarship in 2005 for her study of crop mixtures for weed and disease suppression; Shauna MacKinnon, from the University of Guelph won in 2006 for her study of the impact of organic farming on rural communities. The calibre of these young scientists bodes well for the future of organics in Canada.

 

Brenda Frick, Ph.D., P.Ag., is the Senior Research and Extension Associate for Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada at the University of Saskatchewan. She welcomes your comments at 306-966-4975 or via email at organic@usask.ca.

 

Posted May 2008