Research Projects

Each year, IRDA's R&D Team conducts more than one hundred research projects in sustainable agriculture. What's more, IRDA is working with Quebec's key agricultural stakeholders to find concrete solutions.

2019-2023 • Market gardeningField crops

Implementing a three-year sustainable forage crop rotation for potato and field crop farmers

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.

Researcher: Richard Hogue

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Richard Hogue
2019-2022 • Market gardening

Projet for a Web app to facilitate the viewing and interpretation of potato soil health analyses

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.

Researcher: Richard Hogue

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Richard Hogue
2019-2023 • Market gardening

Utilizing high-throughput sequencing to identify plant pathogens

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

Researchers: Richard Hogue Luc Belzile

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Richard Hogue
2019-2022 • Market gardening

Developing a soil microbiome monitoring method to select potato crop management practices that reduce soil-borne pathogens and pesticide applications

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

Researchers: Richard Hogue Luc Belzile

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Richard Hogue
2017-2019 • Market gardening

Validating microbial indicators of potato field productivity based on metagenomic analysis

The current project is designed to check the predictability of the biological productivity score.

Researcher: Richard Hogue

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Richard Hogue
2016-2017 • Market gardening

Adapting quantitative detection methods for determining silver scurf injury thresholds both in the soil and on seed potatoes to model potential economic losses

The fungal pathogen Helminthosporium solani causes silver scurf, a disease that is hard to detect, both in the soil and on harvested potatoes.

Researcher: Richard Hogue

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Richard Hogue
2014-2017 • Market gardening

Identifying the causes of strawberry decline disease with a view to developing an integrated control strategy

This project involved an exhaustive survey of viruses, phytoplasma, fungi, and nematodes in nurseries and strawberry fields to determine the exact causes of strawberry decline disease in Québec. 

Researcher: Richard Hogue

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Richard Hogue
2014-2017 • Market gardening

Biological characterization of soils to increase potato productivity and soil sustainability

To increase the productivity of potato production systems and preserve soil quality, we need to enhance our knowledge of interactions among biological, physical, chemical, and agronomic characteristics of cultivated soils in various environments.

Researcher: Richard Hogue

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Richard Hogue

The solutions developed by IRDA aim to...

Ensure the sustainability

and quality of soil, water, and air

Protect the health and well-being

of local communities by improving the quality of crop and livestock production, with an emphasis on animal welfare

Safeguard the economic viability

of crop and livestock production

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