Research

Western Canada’s short, dry growing season makes rapid and efficient plant growth a critical issue to prairie producers, so scientists in the Department of Plant Sciences and Crop Development Centre conduct research to develop new crop varieties that will not only thrive under prairie growing conditions, but will supply vital commodities to global markets. Research in the Department and Crop Development Centre can be organized into 4 major categories:

Sustainable Systems: Agronomy of horticulture and field crops, rangeland management, applied plant ecology, organic production systems.

Molecular Genetics and Crop Improvement: genetics, genomics proteomics, cultivar development, new crop opportunities, utilization.

Crop Protection: plant pathology, weed management.

Environmental Physiology: abiotic stress, physiology of native plants, crop adaptation.