This article is republished with permission from the Canaryseed Development Commission. For more information please visit www.canaryseed.ca

CDC Cibo (pronounced chee-bo), the first yellow-seeded canaryseed variety from Pierre Hucl’s breeding program at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre will be commercially available for spring planting through Canterra Seeds.

CDC Cibo looks like regular canaryseed, but when the hull is removed the seed coat is yellow rather than brown. The yellow seed coat will be attractive for many human food uses, but with the human food market still under development, birdseed will remain the main market for the foreseeable future.

Over the winter, a number of international birdseed buyers were sent samples of CDC Cibo. As hoped, the birds like it just as well as brownseeding canaryseed, plus many of the buyers commented that they like how CDC Cibo looks. It seems that some of the yellow seed coat colour makes its way through the hull to brighten the appearance of the sample.

Based on the testing to date, CDC Cibo has earlier maturity than other canaryseed varieties and is also significantly shorter. Like CDC Calvi which was released a couple years ago, CDC Cibo has a slightly higher yield rating than the check variety CDC Bastia. However, yields for all the glabrous or “itchless” varieties remain lower than the “itchy” varieties of Cantate and Keet.

Watch for specific information on CDC Cibo in the upcoming Saskatchewan Seed Guide.

Pierre Hucl has many interesting lines in his breeding pipeline that appear to have superior yield potential. Pierre will provide more information when he speaks at the annual meeting on January 8 in Saskatoon.

Canterra Seeds reports that good quantities of certified CDC Cibo seed are available for spring planting.

Interested producers can contact one of the following seed growers: