The potato leafhopper [PLH, Empoasca fabae (Harris)], a pest affecting several crops including alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), is a recurrent problem in several regions in the province of Quebec. A field experiment was conducted at three sites over three growing seasons to evaluate the impact of foliar insecticide applications and the use of PLH-resistant cultivars on forage yield and PLH populations dynamics. In the seeding year, insecticide applications effectively reduced PLH populations but did not lead to significant yield increases compared to untreated controls. However, at one site, three insecticide applications in the seeding year resulted in increased first-cut yields in the post-seeding year of some cultivars compared to untreated controls. Yield differences between PLH-resistant and PLH-susceptible cultivars were minimal and variable in the seeding and post-seeding years regardless of the PLH population levels. Insecticide applications increased crude protein concentration of PLH-susceptible and some PLH-resistant cultivars in the seeding year. With high PLH populations in the seeding without insecticide applications at one site two PLH resistant cultivars had higher crude protein concentrations compared to susceptible ones. Under relatively low PLH populations the overall benefit of currently available PLH-resistant cultivars may be limited. However, further research is needed to confirm these results, as PLH populations remained relatively low in all post-seeding year environments.

Climate change threatens wheat yields on the Canadian Prairies; rising temperatures can shorten the critical growth period, leading to substantial yield losses. Ultra-early seeding is an emerging strategy to mitigate yield losses and increase yield stability under environmental variability. However, there is a paucity of research on the effects of ultra-early seeding on early- and late-maturing spring wheat cultivars. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of ultra-early seeding on the yield and yield stability of early- and late-maturing Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) cultivars in Western Canada. Five early- and five late-maturing CWRS wheat cultivars were seeded at 2℃ (ultra-early), and 8℃ (conventional) soil temperatures at four Alberta, Canada locations from 2021-2023; and agronomic data were collected. Results indicate that ultra-early seeded late-maturing CWRS cultivars were generally higher yielding and more stable than either early-maturing cultivars or conventional seeding. Ultra-early seeding did not significantly affect yield. On the other hand, yield stability increased for nine of ten cultivars irrespective of maturity, under ultra-early seeding, indicating that this practice can reduce environmental effects on yield. Moving forward, producers should consider implementing ultra-early seeding during wet but accessible springs to increase yield stability.

Plant species within the genus Vaccinium L. (Ericaceae) – including blueberries and their relatives – grow both naturally and as cultivated crops in British Columbia. Vaccinium cultivation is primarily undertaken in the southern areas of British Columbia, but there is growing interest in cultivating Vaccinium plants further north, particularly as the climate warms in northern parts of Canada. Vaccinium species are an important food source for humans and many other species, including insects. Much remains unclear about which insect species may pose a threat to these plants at northern latitudes, both now and in the future. We identified Vaccinium insect and other arthropod pest species through a literature review and used this list of species to inform and prioritize the collection of digitized occurrence records. We assessed the degree of risk each species poses to Vaccinium cultivation, and found that Rhopobota naevana (Hübner, 1817), the blackheaded fireworm (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is a Vaccinium pest of high concern in British Columbia, where it is a significant pest of cranberry. We used species distribution modelling (Maxent) to assess the distribution of R. naevana under both current and future climate change scenarios in British Columbia. Improving our understanding of pest distributions and how they may change in response to climate change is important for informing future pest risks for northern cultivation of wild Vaccinium and related crops in British Columbia and other northern regions of Canada.

Native spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) is a high-value medicinal crop cultivated for its terpene-rich essential oil, yet limited research exists on its response to photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) in controlled environments (CEs). This study evaluated the effects of canopy-level average PPFD (APPFD) on the biomass, essential oil production, and morphology of M. spicata ‘Spanish’ grown in a nutrient film technique (NFT) system under sole-source LED lighting. An intensity gradient was employed where plants were exposed to APPFD levels ranging from 176 to 827 µmol·m-2·s-1. Shoot dry mass, leaf dry mass, and total terpene yield increased linearly with the increase of APPFD, while essential oil concentration increased asymptotically. The linear increase in terpene yield was strongly correlated with an increase in leaf biomass rather than terpene concentration. No effects of APPFD on plant height or width were observed, but there was a statistically significant decrease in mainstem and internode length as APPFD increased. Leaves were smaller and thicker under higher APPFD, but total leaf area per plant increased. This study provided novel insight into the growth and terpene production of M. spicata ‘Spanish’ under sole-source LED lighting in CEs and informs the development of lighting strategies aimed at enhancing essential oil production.

Wild lowbush blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait. and Vaccinium myrtilloides Michx) yields are highly variable since they depend on several factors, some of which can be influenced by growers with different agricultural practices. The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of three key management practices on the yield of lowbush blueberry, as well as on related variables, including the number and height of stems, the nutrient status of the plants, and the presence of crop pests. Over four years, twelve combinations of three practices were tested and replicated four times at two sites in Normandin (Quebec, Canada). The practices included: i) type of pruning (mechanical or thermal), ii) use of fungicide (with or without), and iii) application of fertilizer (mineral, organic, or none). Thermal pruning did not enhance fruit yield or any other evaluated parameters compared to mechanical pruning. Throughout the years, fungicide applications caused a yield gain of about 212 kg ha-1 yr-1, a decrease in disease rate (Sphaerulina leaf spot), and an increase in stem density when combined with mineral fertilizer. Mineral fertilizer also reduced the incidence of Sphaerulina leaf spot, improved the plant nutrient status, and caused a gain in yield of about 853 kg ha-1 yr-1. Organic fertilization improved fruit yield by about 691 kg ha-1 yr-1. Finally, the results indicated that applying fungicide increased the export of macronutrients in harvested fruits, highlighting the necessity for long-term monitoring of nutrients.

Clubroot (Plasmodiophora brassicae) is a soil-borne disease of Brassica crops, including canola (Brassica napus) on the Canadian Prairies. Intensive canola cropping can expedite disease severity, leading to escalated yield loss and lost profits. This study examined the long-term economic implications for two canola-based crop rotations in the presence of clubroot in the Edmonton, Alberta area. Clubroot disease severity was modelled over time to incorporate rotation and clubroot resistance effects on canola yield. The first part of the analysis compared annual returns from hard red spring wheat production to canola with different disease severity index levels. Clubroot disease severity index levels of 35% or more resulted in wheat having higher returns than canola. The second part of the analysis used a bio-economic model with a clubroot sub-model to compare crop rotations. The two-year rotation of canola-wheat was optimal if clubroot disease was low, otherwise canola-wheat-field pea had higher long-term net returns. With a susceptible cultivar, annual net returns averaged $140 ha-1yr-1 higher for the three-year than the two-year rotation. When a clubroot resistant cultivar was introduced, but resistance broke over time, the three-year rotation had higher annual returns of $56ha-1yr-1. Pre-emptive and early use of more break-years between canola crops was critical whether growing susceptible or clubroot resistant cultivars to maintain profitable canola production over time. This result is consistent with agronomic recommendations for canola production.

Farmers would benefit from longer coleoptile wheat cultivars for deeper seeding during dry conditions. Three sets of hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and two tetraploid wheat [Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf.) Husn] genotypes were screened for coleoptile length. Winter wheat coleoptile length ranged from 6.6 to 9.7cm, and spring wheat coleoptile length ranged from 5.2 to 10.8cm. Rht8, Rht13 and Rht18 wheat genotypes ranged from 8.5 to 11.8cm. There was a significant, positive relationship between tall plant height and longer coleoptile length, but some semi-dwarf spring wheat cultivars had long coleoptile length (>9cm).

The Holland Marsh is the largest cultivable area of high organic matter content (muck) soil in Ontario, Canada. Soil loss by wind erosion, particularly during fall and winter months, is a major soil management concern for this region. Incorporating cover crops into the production system is a proposed strategy to reduce wind erosion. However, cool fall temperatures and a short growing window, especially after carrot harvest, is a challenge, as is the preference for a cover crop that dies over the winter and does not interfere with following year’s main crop. Field trials assessed various cover crop species and methods for their establishment after onion and carrot harvests. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) (55%) and barley/daikon radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. longipinnatus) mixtures (60%) produced higher canopy coverage when seeded after onions, supporting the current farmer practice of using mainly barley as a cover crop in this area. Barley seeded at a high seeding rate (420 seeds m-2) before carrot harvest achieved greater canopy coverage compared to barley or fall rye (Secale cereale L.) seeded after harvest. Transplanting barley after carrot harvest provided the highest canopy coverage (25-31%), but the associated cost is a concern. Seed priming did not enhance cover crop establishment in field. Direct seeding of cover crop before or after carrot harvest produced canopy coverage below 30%, the critical level of residue cover for reducing soil loss by erosion. Future research on cover crop agronomy in the Holland Marsh including additional species and methods for establishment is recommended.

This study screened and optimized the formulations and culture conditions of strain at all levels of Coprinellus radians, building on this foundation, the symbiotic seedling cultivation of C. radians with Cremastra appendiculata was optimized to explore the best conditions. The results revealed that the suitable conditions for the cultivation of the parental strain of C. radians were PDA as the basal medium with the addition of 10 g·L-1 fructose, 5·g·L-1 yeast extract, and 15 g·L-1 bran, and the colony diameter was 83.90±0.82 mm and the dry weight of the hyphae was 2.4±0.1 mg under these conditions. Further studies show that the colony diameter of the parental strain of C. radians was 84.77±1.42 mm and the dry weight of mycelium was 2.5±0.1 mg at 35℃, pH=6.0, and dark incubation. Subsequently, the formulation suitable for the cultivation of the primary and cultivation strain was a mixture of willow wood, cottonseed hulls and sweet potato flour in a mass ratio of 8:1:1 with a water content of 30%. The symbiotic seedling cultivation methods were feasible, the suitable conditions for the symbiotic cultivation of C. appendiculata with C. radians were: 5 kg·m-2 of wood block dosage, 50 mg·m-2 of seed dosage, and 0.5 kg·m-2 of cultivation strain dosage, under which the germination rate of C. appendiculata was 33.69±1.71%, and the emergence rate was 2.81±0.36%. Results of these studies have screened suitable culture conditions for the strain of C. radians and conducted preliminary experiments for the establishment of symbiotic seedling propagation technology for C. appendiculata.

The western bean cutworm (WBC), Striacosta albicosta (Smith, 1888) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a corn (Zea mays L., 1753) and dry edible beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) insect pest increasingly present in Canada, mainly in Ontario and more recently in Quebec, and causing an increasing number of cases of ear damage each year. The main objective of this study was to acquire knowledge (impact of biotic and abiotic factors) on WBC to eventually develop and implement integrated management of the pest in field corn. Over the summers and autumns of 2021-2022 (between mid-July and mid-October), we carried out moth tracking and egg mass scouting, analyzed the database of the Quebec pest monitoring network (Réseau d’avertissements phytosanitaires (RAP)) for the period 2010-2022, evaluated the impact of WBC on corn ears, and evaluated the effectiveness of different control methods, including the use of Bt corn hybrids producing the Vip3A protein and the use of insecticides, in several fields in different regions of Quebec. Our results demonstrate that among the ten agri-environmental factors studied, only the area cultivated with dry edible beans around the monitored corn fields, the region, and the soil texture influence the presence and abundance of WBC moths and the presence of egg masses in a field. In addition, WBC does not seem to affect ear growth (length and width), but the larvae favor the development of the corn ear rot. Finally, Bt Vip3A hybrids and insecticides appear to be effective methods to manage the WBC.