We sit down with Manitoba-based AAFC researcher Tom Fetch to talk about how a team of 19 researchers earned the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) 2021 Gene Stewardship Award for their long-standing innovations and strategies to combat wheat rust in Canada and around the world.
The BGRI Gene Stewardship Award is the premier recognition for researchers serving a national breeding program or other nationally based institution for their contribution to wheat rust resistance research. The AAFC team developed a model and standard for the preservation of the important rust resistance genes that integrates pathology with genetics and the development of rust resistant germplasm with combinations of effective rust resistance genes.
The award was presented on Oct. 8 at the BGRI 2021 Technical Workshop.
