b'honed at the Harrow Research Centresee why there should be any restrictions. in Ontario and McGill University inSure, there are some limitations on shar-Quebec. ing germplasm, but different institutions Valerio Hoyos-Villegas, assistantmanage that differently. Knowledge professor in Plant Breeding and Geneticsof plant breeding tells us that if youre in the Department of Plant Scienceworried about giving someone else an at McGill University, spearheads theadvantage by sharing germplasm, youre breeding program there. He says theactually limiting yourself, too. Genetic arrangement was a great opportunityvariation is crucial for a breeding pro-to collaborate and do something differ- grams success, after all.ent than what is typically seen in publicWhile Domitruk says the Manitoba breeding in Canada. Pulse and Soybean Growers are excited Honestly, I dont understand whyabout the new arrangement, he hopes this sort of model isnt more common.it will be a springboard to even more Being relatively new to Canada, collabo- Daryl Domitruk is executive director of theinnovative partnerships down the road rating just seemed like the natural thingManitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers. that will include both the public and pri-to do. Maybe its because there arentvate sectors. This would be facilitated if many other breeding programs aroundgovernment moved away from the strict me, so I was eager to make new connec- five-year funding cycle that is the norm tions, he says.in government-funded plant breeding.His lab focuses on the developmentWhen crops like dry beans align so of superior cultivars of edible pulses, suchwell with national objectives, we have to as common bean and chickpea underconsider both public and private invest-sustainable production systems, with ament accordingly. That said, whether focus on breeding, genetics and genom- were talking about large broad-acre crops ics, germplasm exploration, quantitativeor smaller crops like dry beans, govern-genetics, abiotic stress tolerance, diseasement participation is crucial, he adds. resistance, quality, agronomic perfor- The private sector often isnt as active mance, human nutrition and sensoryin these areas, so its up to governments profile. They also work in the develop- to fulfill their responsibility in nurturing ment of high-throughput phenotypingagriculture and preserving its diversity. tools for plant breeding applications. Moving forward, this will be a big chal-With the technology we have now,lenge, but one that needs to be tackled gathering information and sharing dataValerio Hoyos-Villegas spearheads the McGillhead-on. and germplasm is easy and fast. I dontUniversity pulse breeding program.HELPING YOU TAKE CONTROL THROUGH AUTOMATIONwww.ezratek.comT: (204) 331-3000 AUTOMATIC BAGGERS BULK BAG FILLERS PALLETIZERS TAGGERSJULY 2024 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA 25'