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.
Modifying an irrigated day-neutral-strawberry growing protocol to improve soil functionality by activating beneficial microorganisms through the addition of labile carbon at planting time
This project will modify current protocols with the addition of labile carbon to preserve or rapidly restore the activity of beneficial microorganisms.
Researcher: Christine Landry
Using controlled drainage to optimize water and nutrient uptake by crops
This project relies on the continuous measurement of field water table heights; water exports; as well as sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus runoff into drains at four field-crop production sites.
Researcher: Aubert Michaud, retraité
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
Adapting the Terranimo® Web tool to assess the risks of subsoil compaction by farming equipment in Québec
Terranimo® tool adaptation at the terms and conditions of Québec.
Researchers: Marc-Olivier Gasser Aubert Michaud, retraité
A new molecular approach to simultaneously detect disease-causing viruses in raspberries and strawberries
Developing a fast and sensitive molecular detection methodology able to accurately identify raspberry and strawberry viruses.
Researchers: Richard Hogue Luc Belzile
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
Strategies to mitigate soil degradation in no-till field crops with the goal of reducing herbicide use and boosting soil quality and yields
Three-year project on an array of mitigation protocols to reduce the application of glyphosate in a field crop system (corn–soybean–grains).
Researchers: Richard Hogue Marc-Olivier Gasser
Using cesium-137 to quantify organic horticultural soil erosion
Project to quantify the long-term (60+ years) severity of erosion of organic horticultural soils.
Researchers: Claude Bernard Marc-Olivier Gasser
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
Bison farming in Québec: Determining the phosphorous load factor
Project to determine the real value of the phosphorus load associated with bison production in Québec.
Researcher: Stéphane Godbout
Evolution of spatial indicators of soil health in Québec and Ontario in response to a changing climate
This project aims to improve our understanding of the evolution and spatial variability of soil health indicators as barometers of climate change.
Researchers: Marc-Olivier Gasser Claude Bernard
Using isotopic techniques to investigate soil erosion processes
Quantification of the scale of soil displacement and net sediment production in the past 50 years for various soil textures and compare these results with those generated by modeling the watershed with SWAT.
Researcher: Claude Bernard
Maintaining high yields in field crops while reconsidering the option of using glyphosate
The aim of the project is to assess the impact of applying various rates of glyphosate in field crop systems on the soil and crop rhizosphere microbiome.
Researcher: Richard Hogue
A study on the health of agricultural soils in Quebec
The project consists of evaluating soil degradation based on representative samples taken in Québec’s main soil regions and parent materials.
Researchers: Marc-Olivier Gasser Claude Bernard Catherine Bossé
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