An Integrated Pea Genomic Selection platform is being established by the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan.

It will use artificial intelligence to consolidate genetic information and data for pea breeders at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The new data analysis platform will allow pulse breeders to leverage thousands of data points simultaneously.

Tyler Groeneveld is the CEO of Protein Industries Canada, which is covering most of the cost.

Steven Webb is the CEO of the Global Institute for Food Security. He says the platform should be able to squeeze more value out of research dollars.

He says innovation a ‘team sport’ and the platform will make it more affordable to develop superior pea varieties, with better yield and disease resistance.

Protein Industries Canada (PIC) is one of the federal government’s five Global Innovation Clusters. PIC will contribute $1.4 million to the two-year project.

The remaining $400,000 is being contributed by SeCan, the prairie pulse producer associations and Results Driven Agriculture Research.

(Above photo left-to-right-Tyler Groeneveld (CEO Protein Industries Canada)  Allana Koch (GIFS Board Chair), Buckley Belanger (Sask Liberal MP/Secretary of State for Rural Development), Steven Webb (GIFS CEO)