The Island Grain and Protein Council (IGPC) is both a member of the Federation of Agriculture and the Atlantic Grains Council. The IGPC is therefore, quite interested in the effort of the Atlantic Grains Council to stimulate additional effort from all levels of government concerning field crop variety evaluation work in the region.
Over the last 30 years, until relatively recently, field crop variety trial were co-ordinated throughout Atlantic Canada by the Atlantic Provinces Agricultural Services Co-ordinating Committee, or APASCC. Effectively APASCC allocated the resources of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Stations in Charlottetown, Fredericton and Kentville, the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, along with the field crop and extension services sections of the provincial departments of agriculture to ensure field crop evaluation was performed and reported in a more efficient manner than any one group could do on their own.
APASCC established similar trials in each province at various locations and, importantly, allowed all information to be collected and reported in a similar manner. For instance, all potential new wheat varieties would be grown from the same seed, using similar management, at a minimum of four or five location. Having multiple locations in one growing year provided statistically significant information that would take several years to develop if the trial was only conducted in one location. This assisted in developing and providing extensive crop guides information on new varieties to producers faster than any province could through working on their own.
However, reorganization in the various provincial departments of agriculture in the past few years has resulted in a reduced emphasis on providing basic field crop production information to producers. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has also reduced its commitment to the process, both through reduced staff commitments and through eliminating testing sites in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Finally, a couple of years ago the Atlantic Province Agricultural Services Co-ordinating Committee was abolished.
The Atlantic Grains Council, recognizing the need and good sense of sharing resources and co-ordinating field crop variety evaluations, is forming an Atlantic Crops Development Committee. It hoped this new body supported by producers of field crops can apply sufficient pressure on both federal and provincial bodies to participate in and support work that will be of benefit to everyone involved in agriculture in Atlantic Canada.
The Island Grain and Protein Council are excited about the development of a renewed Atlantic approach to field crop variety evaluation. With proper support from provincial departments of agriculture, the new Committee could improve the varieties available for producers to use and the information reported for each crop type (looking for a Fusarium resistant wheat should be a priority). The IGPC would like to see increased effort devoted to disease and quality evaluation. There is also a need to expand the range of crops being evaluated to include varieties of new oilseed and potential biofuel crops.
Watch for more information when the Island Grain and Protein Council hosts an information day on cereals and oilseeds toward the end of January 2010.
