A Brief History of Flax Breeding in Canada
Date
2021-03-16
Authors
House, Megan Alexandra
Jackle, Ken
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From the Mediterranean to the Canadian prairies, flax has been, and continues to be, an important crop. Divergent selection has resulted in fibre flax and oilseed flax (linseed), each with their own important uses. In Canada, it is linseed that is of economic importance. Canadian varieties are grown for the oil that is produced in their seeds, which has uses in the industrial, human food, and animal food sectors. Though there were once a number of flax breeding programs across the country, there now remains only one. The flax breeding program at the University of Saskatchewan, having survived a tumultuous chapter after the identification of genetically modified flax threatened the Canadian flax industry, remains strong. The program continues to breed flax with improvement to yields, oil profile, disease resistance, and other traits of agronomic importance. More recently, additional emphasis has been placed improving traits of interest to end-users and addressing a variety of environmental crop stresses. Join us for a look at the struggles, successes, and recent advances of flax breeding in Canada. Link to Video Presentation: https://youtu.be/GBGtTBHJp7k
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Flax, Oilseed, Canada
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Part Of
Soils and Crops Workshop