Collaboration Enables More Than $3.4 Million in Research Funding to Advance Canola Agronomic Priorities

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February 10, 2025 – The three Prairie, provincial canola grower associations have evaluated and selected 11 canola research projects to receive funding under the Canola Agronomic Research Program (CARP) in 2025. This investment includes over $2.3 million from Alberta Canola, SaskOilseeds and Manitoba Canola Growers, as well as over $764,000 from the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) and over $363,000 from Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), bringing the total investment to over $3.4 million.

Driven by grower associations and supported by a robust, collaborative research priority development and proposal review system, CARP enables the funding of projects that are key to advancing canola productivity and mitigating production threats. The funded projects regularly provide new strategies for managing pests and diseases, improving nutrient management and supporting a more resilient canola crop. Grower associations are pleased to collaborate with the WGRF and RDAR, enabling greater innovation and discovery through aligned research priorities.

“The research conducted under CARP is beneficial, not just because it is a well-leveraged investment, but because it delivers priority research initiatives for farmers,” says Nicolea Dow, MCGA Research Chair. “We are excited to once again be part of funding research under CARP and look forward to the advances and solutions this investment will deliver for canola farmers in the future.”

“WGRF is proud to once again be part of the CARP program,” says Laura Reiter, WGRF Board Chair. “Canola is such an important crop for producers, and this is why it’s crucial that we continue to invest in research to drive sustainable production while also mitigating risks for producers.”

Clinton Dobson, Vice President, Research, RDAR, said: “We are delighted to support these valuable projects, which will further develop and enhance Alberta’s canola industry. Working with our partners, CARP will drive research solutions that will positively impact producers through increased productivity and profitability.”

Canola research projects funded in the CARP 2025 intake include:

  • Claudio Stasolla, University of Manitoba – Selection of canola germplasm with enhanced water use efficiency for tolerance to drought and heat
  • Gavin Chen, University of Alberta – Developing heat- and drought-tolerant canola by regulating oil-associated enzyme: Phase two
  • Hossein Borhan, AAFC Saskatoon – Genetic Insights from Pennycress: enhancing canola resistance to Verticillium longisporum
  • Dwayne Hegedus, AAFC Saskatoon – Assessing fungicide sensitivity in S. sclerotiorum
  • Steve Robinson, AAFC Saskatoon – Next generation insecticides: Novel RNAi targets for pollinator-friendly flea beetle control
  • Rudolph Fredua-Agyeman, University of Alberta – Genome-wide association analysis to identify quantitative resistance to blackleg disease in canola
  • Rob Duncan, University of Manitoba – Integrated flea beetle management for the future of canola production in Canada
  • Hayley Brackenridge, AAFC Swift Current – Invasion potential of Palmer amaranth in Canadian Prairie agroecosystems
  • Harmeet Chawla, University of Manitoba – Identifying novel genetic sources of resistance to verticillium stripe using synthetic Brassica napus lines
  • R. Glen Uhrig, University of Alberta – Advanced proteome-centric artificial intelligence technology for clubroot pathotype identification and characterization
  • Edel Pérez-López, Université Laval– Understanding the clubroot disease at the single cell level

About CARP:

CARP is funded by the three provincial grower organizations – Alberta Canola, SaskOilseeds and the Manitoba Canola Growers, and is administered by the Canola Council of Canada (CCC). Additional funds are provided for select CARP projects by WGRF, RDAR and other partners. Proposals are reviewed by the grower association research committees, external expert peer reviewers and with additional agronomic insight from the CCC’s Crop Production and Innovation team. Since 1994, over $34 million has been invested in canola research through CARP.

The findings from these projects are incorporated into various tools and extension materials, including the Canola Research Hub and the Canola Encyclopedia. More information on CARP can be found at canolacouncil.org.   

About WGRF
The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) is a farmer-funded and farmer-directed non-profit organization investing in agricultural research that benefits Western Canadian farmers. WGRF is the largest producer funder of field crop research in Canada. Since 1981, WGRF has funded over $250 million of research in field crops of interest to Western Canadian farmers.