Oat cuisine: How AAFC science is powering up an ancient grain

Oat cuisine: How AAFC science is powering up an ancient grain

This work is a culmination of international collaborations and support from many partners including Genome Quebec, the Canadian Field Crops Research Alliance, and the Prairie Oat Growers Association.

Oats are an ancient and important cereal crop. Along with wheat, barley and rice, they make up a key group of staple foods that are essential to global food security. In recent years, oats have seen an increase in popularity and are poised to become even more important to the global effort to feed a growing world population with sustainable and healthy food.

At Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Ottawa, Brandon, and Saskatoon Research and Development Centres, research scientists Dr. Nicholas Tinker, Dr. Wubishet Bekele, Dr. Yong-Bi Fu, and their research partners are helping bring this climate-smart crop to the next level, and recently announced a breakthrough: the creation of the world’s first reference genome for oats, and its implication for oat breeding.

To learn more: Oat cuisine: How AAFC science is powering up an ancient grain – agriculture.canada.ca