GxE: Learning how agronomic conditions affect the hemp industry in Canada
Compared to other specialty crops, hemp is still the new kid on the block.
Approved for cultivation in 1998, industrial hemp is a relatively new crop to Canada. With four main categories of end-use product – food, feed, fibre and fractions – industrial hemp has a lot of potential for the Canadian economy.
While the phrase “location, location, location” may have been coined by the real estate industry, it is a philosophy that can also be adopted by industrial hemp growers.
A hemp plant in New Brunswick may have different physical and chemical characteristics than the same plant [grown] in Alberta. A Diverse Field Crops Cluster (DFCC) research project is seeking to understand how the environment affects hemp.
James Frey, a Diversification Specialist with Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development, is leading the DFCC project, with team members Nirmal Hari and Scott Chalmers. The researchers’ goal is to generate a network of data they call ‘genome by environment’– or GxE – interactions to better understand environmental impact on current and new varieties. Private companies provided the team with different hemp cultivars for the project.
“Each of the varieties represents a different genome, or set of characteristics, that the cultivar will exhibit, but they are going to exhibit different traits [when grown] at different locations,” says Frey.
The number of hours of daylight will affect growth. “A plant grown in a lower latitude [shorter summer daylight] may be shorter, for example,” Frey explains. “If you approach La Crête, Alberta [longer summer daylight] – right close to the Northwest Territories – that same cultivar might be twice the height or more.”
By focusing on GxE, the team can produce agronomic information over time on different regions across the country. This creates a better framework to optimize measurement of crop and economic traits and to standardize management practices of the crop.
The variety trials act like a bridge between the lab and the field, providing accurate, unbiased information to growers and industry. Frey says the data they are producing is a platform that allows farmers to jump into field-scale operation. The team is confident that what they are doing can be reliably scaled up to the field level without a lot of change.
“Some of my producers are hesitant because it’s still a new crop and we have a lot of questions to answer,” Hari says, “but I think we have a lot of goals moving forward.”
Changes in the Canadian marijuana regulations have also affected the landscape for the industrial hemp industry. The recent interest in cannabidiol (CBD) has the team interested in cataloging and identifying cannabinoid profiles in the hemp cultivars.
When it comes to fibre, the team really gets fired up.
The push and pull of the market allows the team to narrow the field of candidates for excellent cultivars for the fibre industry. They can send material to the lab to measure fibre characteristics generating data that industry can use to manufacture hemp fibre products (e.g. hemp as a potential cotton replacer; to make hemp composites; or as a wood fibre substitute in pulp and paper production). Frey hopes that over time the market pull will attract producers that want to meet that demand.
“I really want to see fibre go somewhere,” Chalmers says, “Fibre looks so impressive and several companies are doing work in this area. I know it can grow big time.”
Written by Erin Matthews
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This DFCC activity is led by the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance with funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership program, Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, and Government of Alberta.
The Diverse Field Crops Cluster (DFCC) is a unique alliance of industry partners: Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, Canary Seed Development Commission of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission, Smart Earth Camelina Corporation, Manitoba Crop Alliance, Mustard 21 Canada Inc, and Northern Quinoa Production Corporation. DFCC aligns industry and research stakeholders to seize market opportunities and accelerate the acreage and market returns of special crops. Ag-West Bio leads this five-year research cluster which is funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Agricultural Partnership program and industry partners.