54 GERMINATION.CA MARCH 2018 IN SOME WAYS, this year’s meeting of the Prairie Grain Development Committee (PGDC) belonged to the mus- tard plant. Held at the end of February in Banff, Alta., the PGDC’s Prairie Recommending Committee for Oilseeds (PRCO) put forward only one line for registration, but it’s a major one — the first hybrid brown mustard ever released. B3318 has significantly higher (24 per cent) yield than the check variety, Centennial Brown. Developed in the breeding program of Bifang Cheng, the condiment mustard breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon, it’s aimed at the European market, where brown mustard is used to produce Dijon mustard. But according to Kevin Hursh, executive director for the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission, it opens up a wealth of possibilities for the Canadian mustard industry. “A 20 per cent yield boost over the check variety is hugely significant for growers. The question will be if can we produce hybrids that present a good value proposition for growers,” he says. “Preliminary informa- tion seems to indicate that yes, we should be able to do that. Companies specialize in hybrid production both in Alberta and BC, and with winter nurseries in Chile, the industry should be able to help this take off.” PGDC acts as a forum for the exchange of informa- tion relevant to the development of improved cultivars of grain crops for the western Canadian Prairies and advises regulatory agencies about legislation and regulations governing grain breeding, cultivar production and sector development. This year, a whopping 62 cultivars in four different crop categories were recommended for registration, deliv- BYTHENUMBERS The breakdown of cultivars recommended for registration at this year’s PGDC meeting is: PRCWRT: 14 Canada Western Red Spring; 1 Canada Northern Hard Red; 1 Canada Western General Purpose; 1 Canada Western Special Purpose; 2 Canada Western Special Purpose winter wheat; 3 Canada Western Durum Wheat; 2 spring triticale; 1 winter triticale; 1 fall rye PRCOB: 3 oat; 7 barley PRCO: 1 mustard PRCPSC: 5 dry bean; 6 lentil; 8 faba bean; 4 field pea; 1 buckwheat For minutes and other data from the 2017 meeting, visit pgdc.ca. HYBRIDMUSTARD MIGHTSOON HELPJAZZUP YOURHOTDOG A whopping 62 cultivars were put forward for registration at this year’s meeting of the Prairie Grain Development Committee. Marc Zienkiewicz ering even more options for stakeholders throughout the agriculture sector and beyond. Among those cultivars were 23 pulse lines put forward by the Pulses and Special Crops Committee (PRCPSC). As demand for pulses goes up, breeding for new pulses to satisfy consumers is booming along with it, notes Peter Frohlich, pulses and special crops project manager for the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi). He presented to the PRCPSC this year to unveil some recent work done by Cigi regarding pulses, which was able to show that in some pulse types, genotype had an effect on pulse flavour. Cigi also found that environment and genotype can affect the functional properties of pulses. This is very valuable information to food compa- nies that are interested in using pulses as ingredients.