Research Projects

We will compare the ability of mixed protocols using blended green manure, with or without the addition of farm manure, to satisfy the nitrogen requirements of a silage corn rotation crop.

In this study, we will test alfalfa meal pellets in a broccoli crop planted on plastic-covered irrigated mounds and we will compare them with two organic fertilizer, in addition to a control treatment in which no nitrogen is added.

This project seeks to create farmer partnerships in which participants work on implementing a three-year forage crop rotation protocol in potato and field crop fields.

A labile carbon input would displace some phosphorus into the soil solution, thus making it available again for assimilation into growing plants.

This project seeks to develop a knowledge transfer tool to assist organic market gardeners with weed control.

This project aims to explore and experiment new approaches and ways to preserve, develop, and enhance the MRC’s bio-food sector, and reduce or eliminate the water deficit on the island.

This project aims to develop an accessible and user-friendly web application that let stakeholders search the IRDA potato soil database, one of the largest in Canada, to visualize the impact of growing practices and protocols on the biological, physicochemical, and agronomic characteristics of soils cultivated with different cropping systems.

The selection of a cultivar should be an essential element in any sound irrigation management strategy. This project aims to optimize water use in potato farming.

Modifying the cropping system design is an effective way to improve potato crop water-use efficiency and, thereby, lessen the risk of crops experiencing water stress.

This project aims to develop mass trapping strategies to keep damage caused by the striped cucumber beetle populations below the economic threshold, while minimizing the capture of pollinators and natural enemies.

By enhancing our understanding: 1) of the nitrogen supply dynamics associated with the use of mixed green and farmyard manure applications, and 2) of the timeline of nitrogen uptake by garlic; we hope to fine-tune fertilization strategies so they meet the needs of garlic crops, while minimizing phosphorus accumulation and nitrogen leaching.

Evaluating and developing a high-throughput sequencing-based diagnostic procedure to identify pathogenic organisms.

Development of weeding strategies and methods that will reduce weed pressure on carrot crops, especially row-crop carrots, which appear to be the most problematic.

Project to quantify the long-term (60+ years) severity of erosion of organic horticultural soils.

Method to monitor and control telluric pathogens affecting potatoes that takes into account the interactions between these pathogens and other soil microbiome organisms.