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October 1999
Research Reviews
Ken Hough, Director, Research and Market Development
The Ontario Corn Producers’ Association (OCPA) has been providing impetus
and leadership over the past few months for several key initiatives. A brief synopsis of that activity is provided
here. Detailed results will be reported as they become available.
Corn cold tolerance to chilling during grain filling
OCPA is working with the University of Guelph, the Eastern Cereals
and Oilseeds Research Centre (ECORC) in Ottawa, and several seed/biotechnology companies to formulate a major,
four- to five-year year joint public and private sector research effort on this issue. Although plans have been
slower to develop than expected, we anticipate the full-scale project should be ready to proceed next spring. In
the meantime, some preliminary research is being conducted at both Guelph and Ottawa, to develop corn cold tolerance
screening procedures, and to lay the groundwork for gene discovery, transgenic manipulation and corn line evaluation.
NItrogen (N) use efficiency research review
This review is now underway, under contract with Dr. Greg Wall
(Soil Resource Group, Guelph). The primary objective is to identify the most significant gaps in research knowledge
for N utilization recommendations and environmental impacts. The review will account for all production and site-related
factors which can affect N availability. OCPA will utilize the findings to prioritize further OCPA research funding
in N management. The results will be available this fall, in time to provide input to the OASCC research recommendations.
Once research gaps are adequately addressed, another objective is to develop a worksheet that corn growers can
utilize by in-putting soils and N management information specific to their farm situation (preferably on a site-specific
or management-unit basis). The worksheet will help producers calculate more accurate N requirements and improve
their nutrient management planning capability.
Fusarium resistance through biotechnology
This project, now about halfway through the current work plan,
continues to require significant planning and guidance from OCPA, because of the size of the annual project budget.
A major need has been to work through issues relating to freedom to operate and technology ownership/access and
commercialization with the public and private sector project partners, to ensure that Ontario corn growers will
have access to hybrids with superior Fusarium (Gibberella) ear rot resistance as soon as possible.
Grain drying and damp storage management, and
food grade corn
(See
article elsewhere in this issue for a detailed update).
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