EASTERN CEREAL AND OILSEED RESEARCH CENTRE (ECORC)(ECORC)

CENTRE DE RECHERCHES DE L’EST SUR LES CÉRÉALES ET LES OLÉAGINEUX (CRECO)(CRECO)

Michele Marcotte, Director Research and DevelopmentMichele Marcotte, Director Research and DevelopmentProcinorte – Ottawa – March 6, 2014Procinorte – Ottawa – March 6, 2014

K.W. NEATBY BLDGCENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM

960 Carling Avenue, OTTAWA, Ontario, K1A 0C6

Lacombe

Lethbridge

Winnipeg

Harrow

St-Jean

St-Hyacinthe Lennoxville

Québec

Charlottetown

Kentville

Ottawa

Fredericton

Brandon

SaskatoonSwift Current

Summerland

AAFC S&T CentresAAFC S&T Facilities, Sites, Offices

GuelphLondo

n

AAFC Network of Centers with a presence with a broad coverage of ecosystems and commodities

Agassiz

St. John’s

MWP

ECORC

• Established in 1887, by an Act of Parliament, as one of the 5 demonstration farms in the country

• 1052 acres (425 hectares); 85 buildings (27 heritage designated)

Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm

3

Rooted in Science – Innovating for the FutureS’enraciner dans la science – Innover pour l’avenir0

44

Our mandate...

Regional: for crop development for Eastern Canadian producers located between Manitoba and PEI.Our focus is on Oats, Wheat, Barley, Corn and Soybean

National: for assessing and utilizing biodiversity and environmental resources for Canadian agriculture

Area of Research (1)

• Better Products for Stronger Markets– Improving the genetic makeup of corn and corn

populations that have been bred for desirable traits for the short-season areas

– Developing new varieties of soybeans for short-season areas

– Developing winter and spring wheat, oats and barley for eastern Canada, typically a humid climate. Traits of importance are resistance to disease and insects, improved quality, early maturity and tolerance for cold and drought

– Developing methods to control Fusarium (a fungal disease for corn, wheat, barley and oats), as well as other cereal and oilseed diseases (e.g. Ug99, Asian Soybean Rust), and other plant diseases (e.g. potato wart, cabbage seedpod weevil, and nematodes)

5

Area of Research (2)

• Investing in Healthier Crops – Determining the best methods to produce

crops by less frequent tilling of the soil, and making better use of organic nitrogen sources

– Characterizing nitrogen and fertilizer needs and their use by crops; the interactions between crop yield and environment; optimal crop rotations, as well as methods of cultivating crops to reduce soil erosion

– Studying the interaction between plants and the bacteria or fungi that infect them, the effects of agricultural practices on crop diseases, and cereal seed fungi 6

SOYBEAN RESEARCH – Breeding and Markers, Agronomy, Pathology,Food Attributes (e.g. GABA) for Niche Markets

8

Mycotoxin Research – Multidisciplinary Approach

MycotoxinChemistry

Genomics/Proteomics

Mycology

CCFC

Breeding/Pathology

Area of research (3)

• Delivering Value through Science – Isolating, characterizing and manipulating useful plant genes and

the elements that control or regulate them to allow research to add product value, reduce environmental impacts on crops and increase resistance to insects and disease

– Identifying the molecular markers associated with important crop traits to facilitate the genetic enhancement of crops

– Evaluating and documenting the genetic profiles for corn, small grain cereals, canola, and their resistance to fungal diseases (e.g., Fusarium, Penicillium, Trichoderma, etc.)

9

Areas of Research (4)

• Enhancing Environmental Performance– Establishing environmentally sustainable

ways to develop and use land for field crop production in eastern Ontario and western Quebec

– Formulating methods and models to evaluate the impact of agriculture on levels of carbon in the soil, as well as greenhouse gas emissions

– Evaluating and modeling the dynamics of agriculture-based contaminants in soil and water, and studying best management practices to reduce movements of contaminants into the environment

– Creating resource databases for land use and environmental assessments

10

- Three areas of applications- Crop Inventory- Soil Moisture- Land Management

Area of Research (5)

• New Knowledge and Innovation– Identifying and characterizing Canada's flora and fauna to define economically

important fungi, insects, weeds, and crops– Studying ways to detect, measure, monitor and assess changes to support

conservation and sustainable use of Canadian biological resources – Using molecular techniques to determine the genetic diversity of crops, weeds, and to

identify economically important fungi or insects affecting agriculture– Developing knowledge on the classifications and relationships of important insect

groups– Developing identification tools to facilitate diagnostics of domestic and invasive pests of

agricultural products for border protection– Developing novel pest management strategies that exploit natural enemies and that

can be integrated with current agricultural practices

12

AAFC Core Biological Resources

Biodiversity Collections:Fungi – 18,000Bacteria – 2,000Viruses – 450

Insects – 17 millionPlants – 1.2 millionNematodes – 40,000 Fungi (DAOM) – 350,000

Taxonomy library reference collection

maintainedalive

non-livingspecimens

Plant Protection/Integrated Pest Management Strategy Eastern Canada

CEF/ECORC-Reference

Collections (CNC, DAO, DAOM, CCFC)

-Genomics-ID/Survey/BOLD

DFO

NRCanCFS PHAC

Support trade exportBorder Protection Import

CFIA

RISK IDENTIFICATIONNEW TOOLS

DEVELOPMENT OF MITIGATION STRATEGIES

AND TECHNOLOGIES

MINOR USE PROGRAM

PESTICIDE RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM

AAFC PMC

HC PMRA

INDUSTRYINDUSTRY

INDUSTRY

CEF/ECORCBIOCONTROL

Biocontainment

AAFC London

AAFC Saint-Jean

AAFC Harrow

AAFC WestLethbridge

SummerlandSaskatoonWinnipeg

R D T

MISBBiocontrol

Biopesticides

Facts, Figures, and Facilities

• 68 research scientists and a total staff of 252• 18 honorary research associates or emeritus researchers• 9 terms and 9 casuals, 80-100 students, ~50 personnel for Integrated Services Management• 425 hectares of experimental fields and plots on the historic Central Experimental Farm in

downtown Ottawa• Integrated Growth Facility – Greenhouses (2200 m2) established in 2008• Research Laboratories (mainly Neatby for 26689 m2 but also Saunders for 10000 m2 )• One of nine national sites in the AAFC Watershed Evaluation of Beneficial Management Practices

(South Nation)• National Arthropod Containment Facility providing a single entry point for exotic insects with

beneficial biocontrol potential• National Mycotoxin Analysis Laboratory serving AAFC cereal breeders and Fusarium resistance

research projects• National Soil Databases containing soil, climate, land use, and crop yield• Central genomics facility performing global gene expression profiling for a variety of organisms

(plant, fungal, animal) using an extensive DNA sequence database, a DNA microarray printer and scanner, and robotic equipment

• Electronic microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance center for use by AAFC scientists• National bioinformatics capacity for “biodiversity” 16