It is with great pleasure that I accept the invitation to write about the role
of the Research Branch of Agriculture Canada in helping to establish rape￾seed as a major crop and a valuable export commodit y for Canada. Scien￾tists from the Research Branch of Agriculture Canada were involved in the
earliest stages of introducing rapeseed into Canada starting with the testing
wor k done at the Dominio n Forage Laboratories of the Experimental Farm
Services at Saskatoon. From this modest beginning, a large multidisciplinary
Research Branch Program was developed whic h included experts in the
area of plant breeding, nutrition, biochemistry, physiology and industrial
processing. Muc h of the wor k was carried out in close collaboration with
scientists from industry, universities, and other government departments.