Approval Process
The University of Saskatchewan owns all varieties, advanced selections, seedlings, and seeds from its breeding programs. In order to do a trial of unreleased advanced selections the breeder (Anže Švara), the Manager of the Crop Development Centre (Marissa Janssen) and the Office of Research Services must give permission for it to occur. It is not something that can be done only with the breeder.
While the breeder may be familiar with the group wanting to do testing and may be aware of the general plan, those that want to test our selections need to write down a plan that includes a description of what will be done and who will be doing it. Only with the written plan can the office of research services determine whether to go through with a proposal. If the plan is approved a contract called a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) can be created and signed by all those involved. It is the head of the Crop Development Centre who draws up the MTA.
Who's Involved
While the University might approve a trial proposed by a specific grower, this might only be true for a large grower with many years experience and an excellent reputation for having done previous trials.
If it is a new group proposing a project it would be best if several growers were involved and if they included within their group someone familiar with doing variety trials and or scientific experiments. Having an agriculture extension agent or someone from the University involved can help with making a good proposal and/or planning for a good study. Someone who has done an advanced degree may be similarly qualified to help on such a project. Having a grower group involved can be an asset in a proposal particularly if that group has done other trials in the past.
Writing a Proposal
A good proposal includes a description of the company and/or people involved that want to do the testing. This could be just a couple pages long especially if there is a website that already explains the company.
The proposal also needs information about the goals of the trial and what might occur once it is complete. For example, an end result might be that the testers want to become propagators of the best advanced selections. Or it might be a grower group that wants to have a propagator create plants for their farm.
There needs to be a description of a plan of how testing will be done. This could include:
- Details on who is involved and what they will do
- how many plants per variety will be tested
- what locations will be used
- what is going to be measured (yield, quality traits, ripening time, etc.)
- How will the results be analysed
The breeder is often willing to look over a draft proposal and give some advice but the proposal should be created by those who want to do the testing.
After a Project is Completed
Having done a successful MTA project, one could apply to become a propagator if that was part of the reason for doing the trial. A propagation license is not automatically guaranteed after doing a trial but the chances of being accepted are very high. This is something that can be negotiated with the head of the Crop Development Centre. Likely if propagation is a goal, one should obtain a copy of a blank propagation contract to see if such a contract might be acceptable before contemplating doing a trial.