Initiation of a breeding program for quinoa production in Ontario

对南美藜麦纯度、质量和获取途径的担忧，提高了人们对当地种植的藜麦作为种子和功能性食品成分的兴趣。此外，对藜麦种子和功能性食品的需求在过去五年中迅速增长，加拿大的销售额增长了58%，安大略目前进口价值超过3300万美元的藜麦，用作谷物替代品和功能性食品配料。北美的需求远远超过了该作物原产地玻利维亚和秘鲁的供应。在过去的四年里，Katan Kitman一直是安大略藜麦生产研究的推动者，以扩大安大略各地生产者的机会和收入潜力。凭借对商业藜麦生产最佳农艺实践的充分了解，该公司目前正在寻求启动藜麦品种育种计划，以增加和稳定作物产量。 育种计划将通过降低对倒伏、病虫害的敏感性和提高对环境的适应性，确定最有利于安大略藜麦商业化生产的植物特征。该项目为安大略开发新作物提供了机会，这将有助于农业多样化，并为生产者提供高需求、高回报的作物替代品。制定育种计划，选择最有益的植物特征进行商业生产，将有助于为在安大略寻求商业种植藜麦的生产者创造一个更具吸引力的财务模式，因为它在作物生产中表现出更少的变异性，并增加作物产量，从而增加农民的收入。

Concerns with purity, quality and access to quinoa from South America have boosted interest in locally grown quinoa as a seed and functional food ingredient. In addition, the burgeoning demand for quinoa seeds and functional food products has increased rapidly over the past five years, with Canadian sales increasing by 58% and Ontario currently importing over $33M worth of quinoa for use as a cereal alternative and functional food ingredient. The demand in North America is far exceeding the supply available from the crop's native origins of Bolivia and Peru. Katan Kitchens has been the driver behind researching quinoa production in Ontario over the past four years in order to expand the opportunity and revenue potential for producers across Ontario. With sound knowledge on the best agronomic practices for commercial quinoa production, the company is now seeking to initiate a breeding program for their quinoa varieties in order to increase and stabilize crop yields. The breeding program will identify plant characteristics that are most favourable for commercial production of quinoa in Ontario by decreasing the susceptibility to lodging, pests and diseases, and increasing environmental adaptation. This project allows an opportunity to initiate development of a new crop for Ontario that will help to diversify agriculture and provide a high demand, high return crop alternative for producers. Developing a breeding program to select for the most beneficial plant characteristics for commercial production will aid in creating an even more attractive financial model for producers seeking to grow quinoa commercially in Ontario, as it presents less variability in crop production and increases crop yields, resulting in increased revenues for farmers.