New USask crop research chair receives Sask Wheat support

The new research chair will design and deploy cutting-edge technologies and strategies to assess genetic diversity for delivery into new crop varieties, with a primary focus on wheat.  

“We are grateful for the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission’s support in advancing crop research,” said Dr. Angela Bedard-Haughn (PhD), dean of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at USask. “This new chair will bolster USask’s leadership in the development of productive, climate-smart varieties that support a sustainable food production system.” 

The chair will focus on applying genomics to pre-breeding activities and bridge the gap between discovery research, exploration of gene banks, genomics and breeding. This research is necessary to connect crop wild relatives and commercial varieties. The goal is to translate gene discovery into better adapted varieties for Saskatchewan climates and agronomic pressures therefore providing producers with more rotational options to increase profitability for their operations. 

“The University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre is home to some of the best researchers and breeders in the world. This directed funding for a chair position is an investment by wheat growers into our future to develop improved wheat varieties for Saskatchewan,” said Jake Leguee, board chair with Sask Wheat, a farmer-funded commission that supports public-sector research and wheat breeding in Saskatchewan and Western Canada. 

The new chair will expand and complement the current breeding and training capacity of the Crop Development Centre (CDC) at USask by developing a comprehensive applied genomics and pre-breeding program in wheat and other cereal crops, helping to alleviate bottlenecks that can exist at the pre-breeding stage.  

Applying a combination of genomics techniques and data science methods to large collections of available germplasm—the genetic material of a plant—the chair will provide expertise to support the selection of traits valuable in resistance to diseases, pests, heat stress, and drought tolerance to support climate resiliency and increasing pre-breeding pathology support at the CDC. 

“We greatly appreciate the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission for supporting this new position at the CDC,” said Dr. Curtis Pozniak (PhD), director of the CDC and USask wheat breeder. “We are proud of the impact of the CDC, which is far-reaching, benefiting the economy and the future of agriculture. This investment will allow us to expand our expertise so that we can continue to deliver on our mission to develop new seed varieties that benefit western Canadian growers while feeding the world.” 

Expected to be appointed later this year, the chair will hold a faculty position in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at USask within the CDC and Department of Plant Sciences, providing mentorship and supervision of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in their research and studies.