Agronomy, Genetics and Breeding of Wheat for Organic Environments

随着人们对环境管理的关注，以及化学品投入的生态和经济成本超过社会门槛，有机农业实践可能在加拿大西部变得越来越重要，就像在欧洲大部分地区一样。在加拿大，特别是在加拿大大草原的黑土地带，很少有关于有机条件下春小麦生产的长期研究。拟议的研究是一个开创性的长期NSERC发现资助项目的延续，该项目与小麦有机生产育种和农艺策略的发展有关。长期目标：这是一项长期研究，旨在提高以下方面的科学信息水平：1)土壤养分缺乏和杂草竞争能力育种的遗传基础；2)有机环境下环境可持续小麦农学和育种；3)了解竞争能力的生理机制。本项目为期5年，短期目标为：a)筛选低投入（有机）和常规环境下竞争性和产量性状的选择性关联群体和双亲本定位群体，确定所发现性状的遗传力、潜在QTL和育种潜力；这类研究需要至少三年、两个地点的大规模田间试验，除了广泛的基因型数据收集和进一步的统计分析外，还需要收集各种农艺、疾病和质量特征的表型信息；b)通过田间试验，继续完善适合有机环境的小麦品种；3)对本小组在常规和有机试验中配对春小麦品种的历史数据进行荟萃分析，发现在有机/低投入条件下具有优势的性状的证据。所有的实验策略都将探索开发系统的潜力，以最大限度地减少能源投入，同时保持农业生态系统的长期能量平衡。

As concern for environmental stewardship rises, and the ecological and monetary expense of chemical inputs rises beyond societal thresholds, organic agricultural practices may become more and more important in western Canada, as they have in much of Europe. There have been few long-term studies on spring wheat production under organic conditions in Canada, and especially in the black soil zone of the Canadian Prairies. The proposed research is a continuation of a pioneering long-term NSERC Discovery Grant supported program related to the development of breeding and agronomic strategies for the organic production of wheat.  Long-term objectives: This is a long-term study designed to extend the level of scientific information on 1) the genetic basis of breeding for soil nutrient deficiencies and weed competitive ability, 2) environmentally sustainable wheat agronomy and breeding for organic environments, and 3) understanding the physiological mechanisms of competitive ability. The short-term objectives of the present 5-year project are to a) Screen purposely chosen association and bi-parental wheat mapping populations for traits underlying competitive ability and yield in low input (organic) and conventional environments, and determine heritabilities, potential QTL and breeding potential of traits uncovered. Such studies require a minimum of three year, two site, large scale field trials to gather phenotypic information on all manner of agronomic, disease and quality traits in addition to extensive genotypic data collection and further statistical analyses; b) Continue refining a wheat ideotype for organic environments through field experimentation; 3) Conduct a meta-analysis of our group's historical data pairing spring wheat cultivars in conventional and organic trials to uncover evidence pointing to traits conferring advantage in organic/low-input conditions.  All experimental strategies will explore the potential of developing systems that serve to minimize energy inputs while maintaining the long-term energy balance of the agro-ecosystem.