Research continues to develop varieties of berries for Saskatchewan, and includes work on raspberries, strawberries, and improved native fruits such as saskatoon. Traditionally, they have identified useful traits in plants of the same, or closely related species, then made crosses and selected the best offspring to develop a new cultivar. Today, breeders use tissue culture and genetic engineering. They can isolate genes for useful traits in any organism and transfer those genes directly to cells of already-good cultivars. The transformed cells can then be regenerated into a whole, fertile plant, which can be reproduced to develop a new cultivar.
Agricultural scientists continue to develop new crops or modify existing crops.
Tissue culture, has shown that the miniature flax plants growing in nutrient solution, permits the growing of whole plants from just one living cell-an increasingly key procedure in developing new varieties of plants. Controlling pests such as weeds or insects improves crop yield and quality. Pesticide use, such as the herbicide being applied by a truck-mounted sprayer, is just but one component of integrated control programs that should include crop rotation, resistant varieties and biological control agents. Page last modified Friday, January 29, 1999.