Progress in breeding for resistance to fusarium head blight in barley

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Abstract
In western Canada, from 2000 to the spring of 2003, much of the breeding effort to improve resistance of barley (Hordeum vulgare) to fusarium head blight (FHB) was conducted through a collaborative project supported by a number of funding agencies. The main results of this 3-year project were briefly discussed in the present study, with the conclusion that this project has laid the foundation for developing new barley cultivars with improved resistance to FHB. A new 3-year project with an increased national focus was initiated in the spring of 2003, with funding from the Western Grains Research Foundation and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Matching Investment Initiative program. A brief description of the new project and an update on progress in 2003 is presented in this study. The new project will pursue most of the objectives of the former project, with one of the important additions being access to the FHB nursery at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Although more deoxynivalenol analyses will be conducted using enzymed-linked immunosorbent assays for the new project, currently available capabilities for testing deoxynivalenol levels remain a major constraint in barley breeding. In conclusion, progress is being made in improving resistance to FHB in barley, but it will be a long-term effort.