Agricultural soils study: launch of a major five-year Québec-wide project

Soil is the farmer’s most valuable asset and its health directly impacts the economic value of businesses and the quality of our food supply. That’s why Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ) tasked Institut de recherche et de développement en agroenvironnement (IRDA) with conducting a study on the health of Québec’s agricultural soils. This is the largest survey of its kind in Québec since 1990. An IRDA team specializing in soil science will head up this 5-year project—made possible by a $2.4 million investment by MAPAQ.

To assemble a representative sampling of Québec’s main soil regions and principal parent materials, the 71 most commonly cultivated soil series will be studied at 426 sites belonging to nearly 400 farmers. Soil conditions, as well as biological and physicochemical properties, will be compared with those of undisturbed or degraded soils.