Objective
- Develop germplasm and breeding lines with tolerance to different modes of actions of herbicides.
- Develop germplasm and breeding lines with improved tolerance to heat stress.
- Develop breeding lines with lower seed cadmium content while maintaining other seed quality important for food uses.
- Develop high-yielding flax varieties well adapted to the Canadian environments with improved resistance to pasmo disease through accelerated plant growth technique. A genomic selection (GS) protocol will be developed and integrated into the mainstream flax breeding program at the CDC to increase the rate of genetic gain in flax.
Project Description
Flax plays an important role in Canadian economy. The Canadian seeded area and production of flax is expected to increase during the next decades due to the increasing interest in omega-3 fatty acids for their health benefits for humans and animals, and the demand for industrial oil uses. The growth in flax production will depend on the availability of varieties with high yield potential, improved weed management options, improved disease resistance and tolerance to abiotic stresses, all with acceptable seed nutritional quality. These varieties will be more resilient to adverse climatic conditions such as high temperature and will make flax more competitive with other commodities in the Canadian agriculture. The proposed project will develop new generation of flax varieties which will enable the crop to be grown over larger areas in Canada. It is expected that Canada will be able to increase its share of world’s production and export.
