On-farm Research

The team at the University of Manitoba puts together a newsletter 2-3 times a year, providing great crop information, updates, and upcoming events related to the Participatory Plant Breeding Project.

Read them here!

• Fall 2020 
• Spring 2020 with an Update from the University of Manitoba
• Summer 2019
• Fall 2018
• 2017 results from oat & wheat selection trials
• Fall 2017
• Spring 2017 - Part 1
• Spring 2017 - Part 2
• Fall 2016
• August 2016
• March 2016
• June 2015
• April 2015
• November 2014
• June 2014
• April 2014
• November 2013
• July 2013

A researcher at Cornell University has recently completed a study on "sensory quality" of local sourdough varieties, grown in the northeast. The bake and taste tests reveal some interesting results, and provide a unique model for this work because it was carried out with a group of 7 artisanal bakers who developed the methods collaboratively - a participatory process. Lisa Kissing Kucek was a presenter at the 2014 Seed Connections conference in Quebec.

Click here to read the report. Click here to check out the website. Click here to watch Lisa's ECOSGN presentation.

PPB farmers are encouraged to practice a combination of negative and positive selection. Selection may be conducted shortly before harvest or throughout the growing season - the timing will really depend on the farmer's goals. This selection manual provides more information and tips about how to select wheat populations as part of the PPB program.

Click here to read the manual.

Click here to download the Crop Scout Calendar for wheat.

In 2013, six farmers began on-farm selections to develop organic potato varieties adapted to their farm conditions and market needs. In 2016, the University of Manitoba conducted a replicated trial in Carman, Manitoba to evaluate the farmer-selected varieties along with a set of control varieties. This presentation summarizes the work done and present results for a number of potato traits, including vigour, colorado potato beetle damage, foliar diseases, maturity, and yield."

View the presentation here.

Growers in British Columbia are working to increase the viability of growing local organic and ecological carrot seed using high tunnel isolation structures. They hope to address the challenges posed by Queen Anne's Lace cross-pollination, as well as define a set of best practices for increasing the yield of regionally adapted seed through the potential of growing out multiple carrot varieties without crossing. Included in this report is an overview of the carrot physiology as well as a concise outline of growing carrots for seed. Anecdotes from the growing season are woven throughout the report to offer further detail. Data was collected from the four participating farms and analyzed to provide documentation and insight as this project steps into its second year.

Click here to read the report.

Our 4-page "Primer" on the Participatory Plant Breeding Project provides a great introduction to the rationale for this project.

On-farm Wheat and Oat Breeding: Tips for making selections. The purpose of making selections is to retain plants with desirable characteristics while removing those exhibiting negative characteristics. The plants that you select to harvest seed from will produce the next generation of your population. This document gives an overview of how plant breeders make selections and provides tips for making selections on your farm.

Partners in Organic Innovation: A Conversation with Jane Rabinowicz & Helen Jensen. This article (July 2015), from the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, Dalhousie University providesa great overview of the Partcipatory Plant Breeding Program in Canada. It includes good information on the program's rationale, partners, and progress to date. Please note the article is available in English only.

Farmer participatory breeding works best when we start with a diverse population of tubers created by crossing distant parents. In our program, this process is overseen by Dr. Duane Falk in Ontario. Duane is a plant breeder, recently retired from the University of Guelph. He conducts his work on his research farm in southern Ontario.

Click here to read the full manual

Farmer-breeders in the Prairie Provinces have been selecting populations of wheat, since 2011. In the summer of 2014, wheat populations selected by farmers in the prairie were evaluated at the University of Manitoba's Carman Research Farm to determine their agronomic and quality characteristics, alongside some traditionally bred "check varieties." The results are in! In short… "The results of this study indicate that farmer selected populations are better adapted to organic crop production than conventionally selected varieties."

Click here to read the full report.

PPB farmers select their populations based on agronomics and disease characteristics, and the selection criteria is likely to differ from farmer to farmer. Each individual farmer may choose to focus on certain characteristics that are of great importance to them, for example competitiveness with weeds or rust resistance. This practical manual provides more information and tips about how to select oat populations as part of the PPB program.

Click here to read the manual.

Click here to download the Crop Scout Calendar for oat.

In 2013, six farmers began on-farm selections to develop organic potato varieties adapted to their farm conditions and market needs. In 2017, we collaborated with the “Centre d’expertise et de transfert en agriculture biologique et de proximité” (CETAB+) in Victoriaville, Quebec, to conduct a replicated trial to evaluate the farmer-selected varieties along with a set of control varieties. This presentation summarizes the work done and present results for a number of potato traits, including vigour, Colorado potato beetle damage, foliar diseases, maturity, and yield. This work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through a Partnership Engagement Grant.

View the presentation here.

In collaboration with the University of British Columbia Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, we are pleased to provide the first assessment across Canada of the plant breeding needs and priorities of vegetable producers who use organic and/or ecological production practices. This report is based on the results of the Canadian Vegetable Plant Breeding Priorities Survey, conducted in February 2018. We hope that this report helps to inform future efforts that support plant breeding, variety development, and farmer-led seed systems for organic/ecological farming in Canada. Please note this report is available only in English.

Click here to read the full report.

A network of variety trials can serve as a “lab” to study broader questions in agriculture and ecology. In 2018, University of Toronto Researcher Dr. Marney Isaac used samples from the CANOVI carrot trials to study how plant variety functional traits (leaf size, nutrient content, etc) respond to different farm environments across Canada. Her work was recently published in the journal “Scientific Reports”.

View the article here.

This report presents results from carrot trials conducted in 2018 as part of Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement (CANOVI), a collaboration between the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, and FarmFolk CityFolk.

Download the report here.

This report presents results from corno di torro pepper trials conducted in 2018 as part of Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement (CANOVI), a collaboration between the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, and FarmFolk CityFolk.

Download the report here.

This report presents results from bell pepper trials conducted in 2018 as part of Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement (CANOVI), a collaboration between the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, and FarmFolk CityFolk.

Download the report here.

The “OP Leafy greens variety trials” was a pilot project coordinated by the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security in the spring and fall of 2014. The goal was to develop methodology and collect data on leafy green crop varieties of interest for Canadian organic market gardeners and seed producers though a participatory network of variety trials conducted on organic farms. The learnings from these trials helped to inform the development of the CANOVI variety trials. Due to transitions in the program, however, the full data were never published. Here we present the compiled data for Spinach (Spinacia oleracea), Loose-head Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis), and Barrel-Head (Napa) Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis).

View the spinach variety trial report here.
View the loose-head Chinese cabbage variety trial report here.
View the barrel-head (Napa) Chinese cabbage here.

Working with PPB material for personal and commercial potato production is very safe and legal. However, the PPB material you have been working with falls outside the mainstream potato system. Outside the conventional value chain in Canada infractions to potato glycoalkaloid standards are enforced on a complaint-basis without regular CFIA monitoring. Therefore, those using the PPB material to produce potatoes for commercial use do not receive the assurance of CFIA monitoring for safety. This means that it is up to you to decide how you want to approach the risk of glycoalkaloid levels in the potatoes you consume and sell. This guide covers what we think is helpful for you to consider with respect to potato glycoalkaloid content and the regulations surrounding it.

Read the document here.

This document is meant to provide you with an initial glance at potato disease issues that you might need to consider as you decide what you would like to do with your PPB potato material. It is intended as an introduction to some of the main seed borne potato diseases, and some best practices to use on-farm to minimize problems from these diseases. The practices in this document do not guarantee absolute protection from seed borne disease nor do they ensure conformity with regulations.

View the fact sheet here.

This interactive link will give you access to 2019 variety trial results for orange storage carrots, red carrots, and red bell peppers. Trials were conducted on farm sites across Canada as part of Canadian Organic Vegetable Improvement project (CANOVI), a collaboration between the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, and FarmFolk CityFolk. The data are presented using “Tableau” software. You can choose to view the data in many different ways, by selecting one or more specific crops, traits, or provinces.

Go to results.

The participatory plant breeding (PPB) program is a partnership between the University of Manitoba, Agriculture and AgriFood Canada and the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security (Seedchange). This 2019-2020 update highlights the results of the farmer participatory research and development project focused on wheat and oats.

Read the update here.