GE3LS research in EVOLVES is designed to facilitate the uptake and implementation of appropriate technologies in the breeding program

The USask lentil breeding program has long-term strategic research and commercialization partnerships with both the producer groups (e.g. SPG) and private companies (e.g. BASF, AGT Foods). It has also been collaborating with several national and international research institutions for many years. The program is unique in the way that new tools and knowledge can be incorporated in the breeding practice with minimal adjustments as the genomics group (led by project lead Bett) is well integrated with the breeding group (led by co-lead Vandenberg) at the USask.

The Canadian lentil breeding program is on a cusp of an evolutionary leap at many levels. The Canada lentil industry is beginning to change its market strategy by entering the food and ingredients sector, and along with that, its expectations of future commercial varieties. At the same time, plant breeding has experienced tremendous technical progress over the past few years. In theory, the lentil breeding program sets up priority breeding targets in consultation with the end-users, and readily adopts and implements new technologies to improve its performance. The reality is, however, often not this straightforward. There has been a range of opinions of where the optimal economic value lies within the pulse industry, but going in all directions simultaneously is impossible. The breeding program has been continuously confronted with a huge amount of data, even prior to the explosion of digital data generated by genome sequencing and novel phenotyping techniques. The breeder is constantly required to make timely decisions, both for short term (e.g. selecting plants to move to the next generation) and long term (e.g. adopting new tools to improve their practice). Recent observations from several groups suggest an uneven adoption of data use and of new ‘omics technologies amongst the breeders118,119. How the lentil breeding program evaluates and decides to make use of new data and technologies that are developed by external R&D partners is not well understood.

Our proposed GE3LS research is designed to serve as a cooperation, information and communication core between EVOLVES and a range of stakeholders within the lentil industry, including the consumers. This research has two objectives: 1) to better understand the market opportunities for lentils in the future food and ingredients sector, and 2) to facilitate the uptake and implementation of appropriate technologies in the breeding program. The GE3LS research outputs will ensure the breeding efforts are well-aligned with the industry demands and the breeding program itself as the most innovative program in the world.