Crop Production Research Priorities

Current research priorities for canola crop production

Every year, the Canola Council’s crop production and innovation (CP&I) team identifies the research areas with the most potential to increase yields and improve the sustainability and competitiveness of Canadian canola. These priorities are set annually in the spring through consultation with expert steering committees, the canola value chain and outcomes from the annual Canola Week.

The Crop Production Research Priorities are developed to support decisions within canola-focused research programs, such as the Canola Agronomic Research Program (CARP) and the Canola AgriScience Cluster. For CARP, these priorities can help potential applicants consider industry-wide importance of research topics, but final CARP funding decisions are driven by priorities established by the three provincial grower associations. Learn more about the CARP project selection process.

For more information about these priorities, contact the agronomy specialist listed under each heading.

---

• Evaluate genetic resistance against verticillium stripe
• Impact of harvest management techniques on verticillium stripe disease severity
• Understand the genetics of clubroot resistance and develop durable resistance sources
• Evaluate and identify alternative management tactics and tools for major insect pests
• Alternatives to foliar application and neonicotinoid seed treatment options for flea beetle control
• Testing the effectiveness of blackleg-resistant cultivars post-registration across the Prairies
• Discover water use efficiency improvements (ex. genetic, agronomic, irrigation management)
• Investigate current nutrient application rates by production areas to determine rate recommendations and 4R practices to increase canola yield
• Developing best management practices to identify and manage non-productive acres (including high emissions-risk saline soils)

---

Integrated pest management

Insect pests

Contact: Keith Gabert

• Evaluate and identify alternative management tactics and tools for major insect pests
• Insect pest monitoring and surveillance
• Technology or techniques to improve foliar insecticide efficacy and limit off-target effects

Flea beetles *Alberta Canola, SaskCanola and Manitoba Canola Growers Top Priority*

Contact: Keith Gabert

• Alternatives to foliar application and neonicotinoid seed treatment options for flea beetle control
• Improving flea beetle parasitism and biocontrol options
• Genetic resistance to flea beetles
• Tri-provincial survey on flea beetle populations
• Trap cropping, pheromone application or other strategies to interrupt feeding or mating of flea beetles

Weeds

Contact: Shawn Senko

• Controls for multiple mode resistant weed biotypes
• Weed monitoring and surveillance, modelling of weed species shifts in a changing climate
• Investigate and identify novel integrated weed management techniques for enhanced and diversified weed control methods

Verticillium stripe

Contact:

Evaluate genetic resistance against V. longisporum

Impact of harvest management techniques on disease severity

Persistence of V. longisporum inoculum in Canadian soils

Interaction and relationship between the pathogens L. maculans and V. longisporum

Standardized protocol for molecular diagnostics of V. longisporum

Biological control and new strategies for effective management of V. longisporum in the soil

The role and impact of the environment on V. longisporum resistance

Blackleg *Alberta Canola Top Priority*

Contact: Chris Manchur

• Testing the effectiveness of resistant cultivars post-registration across the Prairies *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Explore innovative/sustainable blackleg resistance strategies (R-genes vs quantitative resistance for example) *Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers Top Priority*
• Developing new/practical technologies (such as sensors and AI) to detect and monitor L. maculans inoculum under field conditions
• Novel management techniques and technologies to effectively manage blackleg in tight canola rotations *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• The impact of better blackleg management on inoculum/disease pressure in following canola and seed contamination in commercial productions
• Potential predisposition of herbicide applications to impact early blackleg infection in Western Canada *Alberta Canola Top Priority*

Clubroot *Alberta Canola Top Priority*

Contact: Kendra Reimert

• Understand the genetics of resistance and develop durable resistance sources *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Develop new technique, tools and models to help predict and manage clubroot
• Measure population dynamics and epidemiological factors influencing Plasmodiophora brassicae (Pb) populations over time
• Continuous monitoring of clubroot risk and pathotype distribution in the past, present and future *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Use SNP/genomic methods of identifying pathotypes with differential hosts *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Develop methods to culture Pb in vitro (culturing or increasing inoculum of Pb without a plant host) *Alberta Canola Top Priority*

Sclerotinia

Contact: Chris Manchur

• Identification of genes and defense pathways underlying quantitative resistance to S. sclerotiorum in canola
• Develop improved sclerotinia stem rot risk forecasts and models for fields to evaluate risk *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Development of sclerotinia stem rot resistance in canola by incorporating resistance into parental lines and hybrids
• Optimize foliar fungicide efficacy for control of sclerotinia stem rot. Evaluate economic threshold of application.

Liming

Contact: Keith Gabert

• Evaluate the impact of pH stratification and/or acid soils on crop production
• Liming or soil amendments as a clubroot management tool *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Technology for pH amendment in zero till production systems

---

Crop nutrient management

Contact: Warren Ward

• Investigate current nutrient application rates by production areas to determine rate recommendations and 4R practices to increase canola yield *Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers Top Priority*
• Investigate nutrient management opportunities to improve yield stability with a changing climate *Alberta Canola, Manitoba Canola Growers Top Priority*
• Determine strategies to manage soil microbiota and genomic marker development for increased NUE in canola *Alberta Canola, SaskCanola Top Priority*
• Evaluate the effect of acidification of soils on different soil properties and canola production
• Evaluate the requirements of modern canola cultivars for phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients in high yield scenarios *Manitoba Canola Growers Top Priority*
• Investigate soil fertility impacts and interactions with abiotic and biotic stresses *Manitoba Canola Growers Top Priority*
• Evaluate and optimize biological nitrogen fixation regime in canola *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Evaluate alternative methods of soil sampling and analysis that lead to efficient and accurate results
• Evaluate the effectiveness of soil amendments for increasing nutrient use efficiency
• Assessment of sulphate release over time from new elemental sulphur formulations *Manitoba Canola Growers Top Priority*
• Quantify societal, environmental, and on-farm economics of 4R management adoption

---

Sustainability

Contact: Ian Epp

• Discover water use efficiency improvements (ex. genetic, agronomic, irrigation management) *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Model canola’s carbon sequestration potential and investigate areas for improvement
• Determine the economic and production impact of climate change and landscape modification *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Evaluate the role of canola’s microbiome in carbon sequestration
• Understanding the production and environmental risks and benefits of tile drainage systems *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Evaluate the economic, environmental, and production feasibility of cover crops to canola production systems

---

Plant Establishment

Contact: Jason Casselman

• Understand and quantify soil microbiological factors that impact B. napus germination and emergence
• Evaluate seeding depth automation technology and opportunities for canola
• Evaluate seed rate sensor technology for automated seeding rate control
• Investigate and quantify agronomic and management factors impacting canola germination and yield potential (ex. harrowing and tillage operations)

---

Harvest and Storage management

Harvest management

Contact: Shawn Senko

• Understand the feasibility of using stripper headers in the harvesting of canola
• Evaluate harvesting canola at high stubble heights with subsequent seeding between rows

Storage management

Contact:

Development of best management practices for storage of Canola in large bins (>10,000 bu)

Impact of seed respiration, elevated dockage, green seed and immature seed on storability

Evaluation of alternative conditioning and drying methods/technologies and fan control systems for reduced energy requirements

Malathion breakdown and uptake by canola seeds in storage

---

Precision agriculture and Profitability

Precision agriculture

Contact: Jason Casselman

• Developing best management practices to identify and manage non-productive acres (including high emissions-risk saline soils) *Alberta Canola Top Priority*
• Survey and understanding of commercial precision agricultural tools available to producers to make better predictions of weather and pest impacts
• Determining the optimal number of zones in field zone mapping, determining the realistic yield for each zone
• Evaluate Near infrared analyzer and mapping technology for enhanced variable rate fertilizer application
• Feasibility of managing field variability and providing in-season decision through big data, climate/weather prediction models, and LiDAR/Landsat information
• Evaluate optical sprayer technology for spot spraying and rate controls

Profitability

Contact: Jason Casselman

• Strategies to improve profitability with increased production costs and evaluate return on investment (ROI) from agronomic practices *Manitoba Canola Growers Top Priority*
• Identify opportunities with farm data management systems on creating profitability maps from yield/nutrient maps and associate them with AI/machine learning analytics *SaskCanola Top Priority*

---