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USask researchers aim to develop wheat plants with stronger resistance to FHB

April 19, 2022  By Top Crop Manager


A multidisciplinary team at the University of Saskatchewan has been awarded $825,000 over three years to develop wheat plans with stronger resistance to the fungal disease fusarium head blight (FHB).

Additional funding from the Western Grains Research Foundation and the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission bring the project’s total funding to $1.24 million.

Randy Kutcher, a professor at USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources and the lead researcher on the project, said in a statement that the project will provide a “selection of tools” to achieve several objectives, such as finding new dwarfing genes, or uncovering another way to separate key genes. The project also aims to take a deep look inside the actual plant in order to see what is truly happening when wheat becomes infected with FHB, thus helping researchers learn more about what FHB-resistant plants look like.

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“Cultivating resistant wheat varieties is an efficient, eco-friendly and often most economical way to control FHB when it’s part of an integrated pest management program that includes crop rotation, appropriate seeding rates, and use of fungicides when the situation warrants.” | READ MORE

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