Green Crop Network overview
The Green Crop Network (GCN) is a unique Canadian nation-wide research network for sustainable greenhouse gas (GHG) management in agricultural production systems. This network is a composite of the world-class expertise of 50 respected Canadian scientists and more than 46 graduate students in 14 universities across Canada.
Professor D.L. Smith, Chair of Department of Plant Science at McGill University, is the scientific director of this national research network. The headquarter of the network is located at the Department of Plant Science, McGill University.
With support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the federal government and the Quebec provincial government, Canadian universities, and 3 industry partners (Syngenta Inc, Reductase Consortium, and Agribiotics Inc.), the network focuses on advancing the scientific insights and technologies needed to develop high performing crops ideally suited for the Canadian climate, that in addition:
- Lessen emissions of N20 through reduced nitrogen requirements and altered root physiology;
- Aid in enhancing soil carbon stocks;
- Optimize yields and performance under conditions of increasing CO2 and
- Increase production of plant oils suitable for biofuel production
Each of these four goals are addressed by a team of researchers working on targeted projects designed to enhance understanding in the theme areas of “N2O Emissions”, “Soil Carbon Stocks”, “Plant Response to Elevated CO2” and “Biofuel Crops”. All four themes are integrated by a flow of information relating to the carbon or nitrogen cycles within, or external to the study plant. Adjusting one cycle invariably induces a response in the other, and full understanding is not solely achieved through the collaboration of experts working in an interactive milieu. The network also provides many opportunities for the training of students and technicians, further strengthening Canada’s leadership capacity in climate change researches.
The mission of the Green Crop Network is to engage the best microbial, soil and plant scientists in Canada in a collective research program designed to enhance understanding of the genetic, physiological and ecological processes of crop plants, and to discover ways that these processes may be exploited in order to reduce net GHG emissions. If a “crop” is considered to include both the crop plant and the system of water, nutrients and air that supports its growth and development, then a “green crop” is one that has been developed to produce food, feed, fiber or biomass for biofuel production or carbon sequestration under current and future CO2 conditions with a minimal environmental impact. The vision of the GCN is to develop the insights necessary to breed or engineer crops and cropping systems that will manage GHG emissions and contribute to an alternative and sustainable energy supply.
