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.

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2018-2019 • Fruit production

Updating the Québec IFP reference guide

Updating the apple pest monitoring guide and the IFP reference guide for the benefit of apple growers.

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Daniel Cormier
Gérald Chouinard
2018-2022 • Fruit production

Demo plots for low-risk apple IPM programs

The overall objective of the project is to inform apple growers via regional demonstration plots of the latest apple IPM techniques.

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Vincent Philion
Daniel Cormier
Mikaël Larose
2018-2021 • Fruit production

Automated traps for pest monitoring in Québec apple orchards

The aim of this project is to measure the potential of automated traps and extrapolate it to an apple-monitoring network.

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Gérald Chouinard
Daniel Cormier
2016-2018 • Fruit production

Large-scale use of codling moth mating disruption in Quebec orchards

The aim of our project was to increase the acreage on which mating disruption is used against the codling moth in all of Québec’s apple-growing regions.

Researcher: Daniel Cormier

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Daniel Cormier
2017-2020 • Fruit production

Fire blight initiative

Research projects on controlling fire blight.

Researcher: Vincent Philion

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Vincent Philion
2017-2020 • Fruit production

Impact of tree growth and rain on fungicide efficacy against apple scab

The aim of this project is to determine the combined impact on fungicide efficacy of rain and the appearance of new leaves to more accurately identify how long treatments remain effective.

Researcher: Vincent Philion

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Vincent Philion
2017-2020 • Fruit production

Improving fire blight detection, prediction, and control

The main aim of this project is to test a bacterial detection technique developed in Austria that consists of quantifying inoculum carried by bees.

Researcher: Vincent Philion

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Vincent Philion
2017-2018 • Fruit production

Arthropod resistance to pesticides: literature review of resistant pests and resistance tests

IRDA drew up a list of insects and mites in Québec known to be or likely to become resistant to pesticides.

Researchers: Daniel Cormier Annabelle Firlej

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Daniel Cormier
Annabelle Firlej
2016-2017 • Fruit production

Posters on integrated fruit production for strawberry, raspberry, and highbush blueberry crops

IRDA produced posters to help producers and extension agents choose pest and disease control strategies that promote the use of IPM.

Researcher: Annabelle Firlej

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Annabelle Firlej
2015-2017 • Fruit production

A study on the link between spotted wing drosophila populations, crop damage, and yield losses

This project helped to determine if there is a significant correlation between the number of adult spotted wing drosophila captured and yield losses observed in the field.

Researcher: Annabelle Firlej

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Annabelle Firlej
2015-2017 • Fruit production

Selecting low-risk insecticides to control cranberry weevil on cranberry farms

The aim of this two-year project was to determine the efficacy of various pesticides in the field.

Researcher: Annabelle Firlej

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Annabelle Firlej
2016 • Fruit production

Detecting spores of Pucciniastrum geopertianum, the fungus that causes blueberry witches’ broom rust

The aim of the project was to determine whether the witches’ broom symptom on blueberries is really caused by the rust Pucciniastrum geopertianum, which attacks balsam.

Researcher: Richard Hogue

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Richard Hogue
2014-2018 • Fruit production

Exclusion nets for organic apple production in Eastern Canada

The aim of this project was to test the general hypothesis that exclusion nets, when properly used, can prevent attacks by most apple pests and reduce disease incidence with no major adverse effects on fruit quality.

Researcher: Gérald Chouinard

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Gérald Chouinard
2016-2019 • Fruit production

Control strategies to reduce the impact of the spotted wing drosophila

This project aims to promote a biocontrol solution by testing a complex of natural enemies that attack the spotted wing drosophilia at different development stages.

Researcher: Annabelle Firlej

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Annabelle Firlej
2017-2019 • Fruit production

Exclusion nets made from biobased polymers

The purpose of this project is to test the general hypothesis that biobased polymers can be used to replace fossil-fuel-based products and reduce the use of pesticides without increasing GHG emissions.

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Gérald Chouinard
Daniel Cormier

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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