The Canadian government has awarded up to C$2.3M (US$1.67M) over four years to agricultural biotechnology company Performance Plants Inc (PPI) to develop more resilient and high-yielding soyabeans.
Established in 1995, PPI has developed key technologies to achieve higher and more consistent crop yields through improved heat tolerance, drought tolerance and reduced water requirements.
The company’s R&D laboratory in Kingston, Ontario- conducts gene discovery, trait development and commercialisation of technologies for seeds to protect and enhance yields.
“Our technology will allow farmers around the world to adapt to climate change by reducing the need for irrigation and improving heat tolerance, while increasing yields,” PPI said on its website.
The company said its technology could also contribute to climate change mitigation by increasing biomass yields for non-food biofuel crops.
Awarded through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriScience Program-Projects Component, the funding would allow PPI to develop more resilient soyabeans through selected genetic lines and would also enable field testing, the Canadian government said on 31 July.
“Soyabean is the third largest field crop in Canada and the foundation to increase its growth acreage and productivity lays squarely on the genetic improvement of the seeds,” PPI CEO Yafan Huang said.
PPI also received over C$2M (US$1.45M) in funding under the previous framework, the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
