Social rate of return to plant breeding research in Germany

This article focuses on the social rate of return to plant breeding investment in Germany between 1980-2000. Starting point of the analysis is the development of total factor productivity which is decomposed into the effects of factor input and research investment. Information on investment in plant breeding have been obtained via questionnaires sent to both private plant breeding companies and public research organizations. The empirical results suggest significant underinvestment in German plant breeding research, as the calculated social rate of return is in the range of 16 to 28%.agricultural research, plant breeding investment, social rate of return, Public Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Progress of the edible-oil flax program at the Crop Development Centre

Non-Peer ReviewedAn edible-oil flax crop will provide Saskatchewan farmers with an additional cropping option and help to extend crop rotations. Australian researchers have recently produced an edible-oil flax but this genetic material is not available to public institutions. Consequently, we were forced to produce our own mutant flax lines by treating the variety McGregor with the mutagen EMS (ethyl methanesulphonate). The objective of our research was to induce mutations that would lower the linolenic acid content of flax seed. To date we have isolated three mutant lines with lowered linolenic acid levels. Each of these lines has elevated levels of other fatty acids. Line E67 has increased concentrations of palmitic acid, line E1747 greatly increased levels of linoleic acid and line E1929 has increased oleic acid levels. Flaxseed, as produced today, is processed into linseed oil. The drying properties of linseed oil make it useful as a component of oil-based paints and of linoleum. However, these same drying properties cause linseed oil to oxidize and turn rancid, making it unsuitable for human consumption. The most prevalent fatty acid in linseed oil is linolenic acid and this fatty acid imparts most of the drying quality to the oil. Green (1986) described the development in flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) of a genotype whose seed contained less than 2% linolenic acid. The low linolenic acid character is controlled by two recessive genes that were produced by EMS (ethyl methanesulphonate) mutagenesis in the Australian cultivar Glenelg. These very low levels of linolenic acid have resulted in flax being considered for edible-oil purposes. The discovery of these fatty acid mutants brought the hope that edible oil flax cultivars could be developed for Saskatchewan. However, we were unable to obtain low linolenic acid lines from the Australians. We, therefore, began our own mutagenesis program with the hope of duplicating the Australian results

Genetic structure of synthetic Brassica napus L. Populations

The crop species Brassica napus L. has significant economic importance around the world. However, the complex evolutionary history and vast geographical distribution of oilseed rape has contributed vastly to genetic population structure investigations. Constant breeding efforts, for use for oilseed rape as food for human consumption, and fodder for livestock, have generated new phenotypic diversity. In this study, we used crosses among very diverse morphotypes as Brassica oleracea (turnip rape), conv. capitata var. medullosa (Cavalier rouge), conv. capitata var. sabauda (Savoy 'Wirsing'), conv. botrytis var. alboglabra (broccoli); Brassica rapa (turnip), var. trilocularis (yellow sarson), var. chinensis (bok choy); Brassica cretica; Brassica montana. Until now, genetic studies had insufficient genotypes to determine the relationship of oilseed morphotypes and their genetic population structure. We used 18,272 single nucleotide polymorphism markers in a synthetic nested association mapping diverse panel of 200 B. napus accessions that included crosses of five very diverse parental lines and a common elite accession. Results on population genetic structure and phylogenetic analyses revealed, as expected, five subpopulations that were largely reflective of phenotypes. The results of this study have provided improved resolution to the genetic and phylogenetic relationships of a synthetic panel within the Brassicas species. Understanding genetic diversity available is key to the future genetic study and constant improvement of this important agronomical crop species

Optimizing nitrogen rates in Camelina sativa

Non-Peer ReviewedCamelina is a new oilseed crop to western Canada with potential applications in cosmetics, human nutrition, and biofuel. Nitrogen recommendations for camelina production in Western Canada aren’t available. Field studies were conducted in 2008 and 2009 for 10 site years at locations in western Canada to determine the effect of nitrogen rate on seed yield. Depending on the experiment, nitrogen rates ranged from 0 to 200 kg ha-1. The join point (N rate at which yields plateau) for camelina were 111 to 116 kg ha-1, which is similar to other Brassica oilseed species