High-yielding, superior quality, disease-resistant, herbicide-tolerant hybrid high erucic acid rapeseed research at the University of Manitoba

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The Canadian canola/rapeseed industry contributed $15.4 billion annually to Canada's economy in the 2007-2009 period. High Erucic Acid Rapeseed (HEAR) production is a small but profitable component of the Canadian canola/rapeseed industry, with Canada producing approximately half of the annual global supply of erucic acid oil. Erucic acid oil and its derivatives are used in lubricants, slip agents, plastics, lacquers, coatings, cosmetics, nylons and pharmaceuticals. Current open pollinated HEAR cultivars yield approximately 2200 kg/ha, while current hybrid canola cultivars yield approximately 2500 kg/ha. Developing HEAR hybrids is necessary to maintain profitable HEAR production in Canada, since HEAR and canola cultivars compete for the same production area. The proposed HEAR Collaborative Research and Development Project focuses on the development of high-yielding, superior quality, disease-resistant, herbicide-tolerant (HT) hybrid HEAR cultivars at the University of Manitoba. We will accomplish this using two different pollination control systems, generation of increased Brassica napus diversity, utilization of marker-assisted selection and further characterization of blackleg disease variation in western Canada and the genetics of blackleg resistance. This project will incorporate expertise in plant breeding, genomics, and disease resistance at the University of Manitoba (Drs. Duncan, Fernando and Li), expertise in breeding and hybrid development from DL Seeds and a tradition of seed/oil/meal processing from Bunge Canada. Our team will produce the world's first hybrid HT HEAR cultivar, and in the short-term, hybrid HT HEAR research and development will increase HT HEAR yields by at least 10 to 15%. The hybrid yield advantage of this unique and profitable crop will add significant annual value to the Canadian economy, benefiting farmers, the seed industry and seed processors. This research will provide a unique educational venue for training highly qualified personnel (HQP) in plant breeding, plant genomics and plant pathology. The demand for HQP in these areas is large and growing steadily, while the capacity to train such HQP is declining.