From his early studies in China to leading oat breeding efforts in Canada, Yan has built a career dedicated to helping breeders make better decisions and develop stronger crops for changing environments.
Few people embody that reality better than Dr. Weikai Yan, recipient of the 2026 Plant Breeding and Genetics Award, sponsored by Seed World Canada and Seeds Canada.
Over a career spanning more than four decades, Yan has worked across China, the United States and Canada, building a reputation not only as an accomplished oat breeder but also as one of the world’s leading experts on genotype-by-environment interaction — the complex relationship between genetics and growing conditions that influences crop performance.
Yan’s journey into plant breeding began in China, where he studied plant breeding as an undergraduate before pursuing graduate studies and working alongside some of the country’s leading crop scientists. Opportunities at Cornell University and later the University of Guelph deepened his interest in genotype-by-environment interaction, a field that would become central to his research career.
Since joining Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa, Yan has helped lead Canada’s oat breeding efforts while developing analytical tools and methodologies that have been adopted by plant breeders around the world.
While many researchers are best known for either the varieties they develop or the scientific advances they create, Yan points to both as defining contributions. His breeding program has released numerous oat cultivars adapted to different production regions, while his research has helped breeders better understand how crops respond to varying environments and management conditions.
Looking ahead, Yan sees technologies such as genomic selection, phenomics and artificial intelligence playing increasingly important roles in crop improvement. These tools, he says, can help breeders make better decisions earlier in the breeding process and improve the efficiency of breeding programs.
At the same time, he believes technology will complement—not replace—the expertise of plant breeders.
“Human plant breeders are still essential,” Yan says. “They have to ask the right questions and judge whether the results are valid.”
Despite advances in technology, Yan says one challenge remains unchanged: the need for long-term investment. Plant breeding requires patience, sustained funding and a commitment to future outcomes. As climate variability increases and expectations from growers and end users continue to rise, that commitment will become even more important.
Yan’s career serves as a reminder that plant breeding is about more than developing new varieties. It is about creating knowledge, building tools and helping future generations of breeders solve increasingly complex challenges.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
