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58 THE RURAL VOICE
FARM ADVICE
Canola industry
gets boost
Research in biotechnology could
eventually give Canada's already suc-
cessful canola industry a boost.
Scientists at Agriculture Canada
are using biotechnology to develop
more powerful ways to improve
canola. Biotechnology is the science
of engineering living organisms to
develop new products or processes.
In 1984, Canada produced more
than 2.6 -million tonnes of canola and
exported more than 1.5 -million ton-
nes. This accounted for 10 to 12 per
cent of the value of all grain and
oilseed exports, contributing $648
million to Canada's trade sheet.
Wilf Keller, head of genetic
engineering at the Ottawa research
station, says biotechnology offers the
Canadian canola industry even
greater potential. "Using these new
technologies, we can develop crop
varieties with higher yields, herbicide
and disease resistance, and perhaps
even salt tolerance and drought
resistance. Although the payoff for
much of this research is still many
years in the future, we are shortening
the time needed to achieve major crop
improvements."
Undesirable traits can sometimes
reappear because most cells have two
sets of chromosomes, one set often
masking the traits of the other.
"Organisms inherit genetic informa-
tion from the female and male
parent," Dr. Keller explains.
At pollination, a canola cell nor-
mally has 38 chromosomes. In the
past 10 years, however, scientists
have discovered that given the right
conditions it is possible to grow
plants from the male reproductive
cells only. These plants, called
haploids, have only 19 chromosomes.
Because haploids have only one set of
unpaired genes, plants with desirable
traits can be chosen without recessive
traits appearing in future generations,
Dr. Keller says.
"This could reduce the time to
develop new crop varieties to between
six and eight years."
Being sterile, haploids are of little