November 1, 2020 – Lacombe, AB – Alberta Seed Processors (ASP) announced today that it will launch a new project aiming to help the Alberta agriculture industry better understand, manage and control fusarium in the province.
As part of the federal government’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), ASP has officially launched a project to study fusarium in Alberta over the next three years in order to better understand how farmers can manage, control and prevent the devastating disease.
The project will partner with three Alberta seed labs, including SGS Biovision, Seed Check and 20/20Seed Labs, in order to gather pest and seed data over the next three years and then analyze that data for information to build on-farm fusarium management plans for years to come.
“Leveraging these strong partnerships within the value chain to work toward a common goal, is part of ASP’s mandate”, says General Manager Monica Klaas.
“This project directly aligns with ASP’s goals of working with our industry partners to support agriculture in our province by constantly improving the services and capacity of our seed and grain processors so we can ensure our farmers have access to the best seed possible.”
“We are proud to say our province – and our organization — is leading the research efforts on fusarium management.”
The project will leverage funding from the CAP program, which is a five-year, $3 billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments with the goals of strengthening the agriculture and agri-food sector and ensuring its continued innovation, growth and prosperity.
“Fusarium management is an industry-wide initiative” says Lauren Comin, co-chair of the Fusarium Action Committee, and Director of Research for the Alberta Wheat & Barley Commissions. “By working together for a common goal, we can continue to mitigate the spread of the disease. This project is one example of how collaboration amongst stakeholders harnesses synergies and continued focus on Fg to provide positive outcomes for the entire industry.”
In the past, information regarding fusarium seed infection has been somewhat fragmented. This project intends to align all data, resulting in comprehensive information that the entire value chain can utilize to manage the disease.
To learn more:
Monica Klaas
General Manager, ASP
403-489-9999
monica.klaas@seedprocessors.ca