Viterra and Evogene to Develop Canola with Improved Yield and Stress Tolerance Traits
Viterra and Evogene Ltd. announced a joint collaboration to develop canola with improved yield and tolerance to abiotic stress. Under the three year collaboration, the companies will assess a number of Evogene discovered gene candidates in trials involving Viterra's elite canola lines. These varieties will be evaluated under normal and stress conditions.
The candidate genes covered in this agreement were discovered by Evogene utilizing its in-silico gene discovery platform, the "ATHLETE." These genes have been evaluated in model plants, showing improved yield under both normal and adverse environmental conditions.
"We have been working with global ag-biotech companies to introduce these genes into major field crops. We recently announced successful third year field trial results for one of these candidate genes - Evo133. It is with this momentum that we go into our collaboration with Viterra, sharing that common goal to develop canola with improved yields and enhanced performance under a variety of conditions," said Ofer Haviv, Evogene's President and CEO.
The companies also intend to sign a co-operation and project funding agreement with the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF) in which CIIRDF will provide financial support for the project.
Development, testing and evaluation on Viterra's canola varieties will begin this spring and take place over the next several years. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
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