Canola is Canada’s most valuable crop, with about 22 million acres grown each year. Although canola yields increased steadily for decades, productivity has levelled off over the past 10 years because there have been few new technologies to further improve crop performance. At the same time, more frequent drought and heat events across the Prairies are making it harder for growers to maintain high yields.
The Performance Plants Genomics Project aims to develop new canola varieties that produce higher yields, are more resilient to drought and heat, and help store more carbon in the soil. Environmental stresses, especially during flowering and seed development, are responsible for most crop yield losses. To address this challenge, the project will combine proven productivity traits with advanced gene-editing technologies to improve the crop’s ability to withstand these stresses.
Over the next two years, researchers will identify the most promising traits, edit the canola plants, confirm that the desired genetic changes have been made, and evaluate the new plants in controlled environments and field trials. Multiple combinations of traits will be tested to identify the strongest candidates for future commercial canola varieties.
Project research will also focus on increasing root growth, allowing plants to capture and store more carbon in the soil while supporting healthier, more productive crops. The project will use a new gene-editing platform and efficient DNA delivery methods to speed up plant development and support future commercialization.
The Performance Plants Genomics Project is expected to benefit Canadian agriculture by helping growers produce higher and more reliable yields under changing climate conditions while supporting environmental sustainability through increased carbon sequestration. Successful commercialization of these improved canola varieties will strengthen Canada’s canola industry, improve its long-term competitiveness, and provide benefits across the agricultural value chain, from producers to processors and exporters.
