The objective of the first phase of the project was to select a legume species for intercropping with broccoli at the Organic Agriculture Innovation Platform. The legume was chosen based on its ability to suppress crop pests, mainly insects and weeds, and encourage natural enemies, especially carabid beetles and parasitoids that attack caterpillar pests of crops in the cabbage family. For the second phase, plots with broccoli alone or planted with the selected intercrop have been set up. The cropping systems used are designed to minimize competition with the main crop. Soil tests are being conducted on certain aspects of soil quality in connection with the use of a legume intercrop. A technical and economic analysis will look at profitability thresholds calculated in terms of additional yields required to recover the cost of inputs and cultural operations associated with using legume intercrops.
From 2015 to 2019
Project duration
Market gardening
Activity areas
Pest, weed, and disease control, Organic farming
Services
The results of this project will help in the fight to control organic crop pests.
Growing Forward 2 | Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec - Innov'Action Programme | Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada | Club Bio-Action | Pleine-Terre | Coopérative des agriculteurs de proximité écologique
Test whether or not commercial strains coated on Nantes carrot seeds can compete with native strains in the soil to colonize the host plant and, once symbiosis takes place, whether they succeed in doing a better job than the native strains during the transition to organic farming.
Researcher: Christine Landry
This project will compare the ability of various pheromone mixes to prevent male swede midges from locating females.
The project consisted of manufacturing and testing a portable rain simulator to estimate, under various conditions, what proportion of irrigation water a crop is able to use.
Researcher: Carl Boivin