Researcher, agr., Ph.D.
450 653-7368
ext 340
Researcher, agr., M.Sc.
450 653-7368
ext 350
Researcher, Ph.D.
450 653-7368
ext 360
Apple growing requires annual pesticide sprays against insects, mites, diseases, weeds, etc. Many of the products used have major environmental impacts and/or are costly. Proven methods for detecting, monitoring, and controlling pests and thereby reducing these risks are used to varying degrees by growers. Wider use of these new approaches would reduce the ecological footprint of Québec agriculture. A demonstration plot will be run for four years in five of Québec’s biggest apple growing regions: Laurentides, Montérégie Est, Montérégie Ouest, Estrie, and Capitale-Nationale. On each site a low-risk pest management program will be compared to the farm’s current program. The low-risk program will consist of a set of techniques targeting the full range of apple pests, specifically apple maggots, the codling moths, fire blight, apple scab, spider mites, and weeds. Yield, monitoring, economic, and risk data will be collected and compared annually for both types of program on each site. Apple growers will be informed of the results through communiques from RAP (Réseau d’avertissements phytosanitaires), demo days, talks, videos, training sessions, and so on.
From 2018 to 2022
Project duration
Fruit production
Activity areas
Pest, weed, and disease control
Service
These preventive methods to control apple pests will lead to reduced pesticide use, reducing the industry’s environmental footprint while signalling its innovative approach.
Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec - Prime-Vert Programme | Producteurs de pommes du Québec | Technical support clubs
Presentation • Gérald Chouinard, Mikaël Larose
Chouinard, G., M. Larose. 2018. Les nouveaux vergers-vitrines du Québec... et pourquoi vous voudrez visiter celui de votre région!. IRDA. Présentation donnée dans le cadre des Journées hoticoles et grandes cultures de Saint-Rémi-de-Napierville. December 2018. DownloadValidation and adaptation of pest and disease monitoring and decision support tools.
Researcher: Annabelle Firlej
Development of a mating disruption method to control two cranberry pests.
Researcher: Daniel Cormier
The hypothesis was that it should be possible to measure sap flow in apple trees and correlate it with soil water conditions and the weather.
Researcher: Carl Boivin