Improve the environmental conditions of cultivated wild blueberries using cultural practices relating to tillage, water management and fertilization

Description

For a crop to express its full yield potential, environmental conditions (temperature, water, nutrients, etc.) must be optimal. Fertilization, irrigation, crop protection and tillage are examples of interventions used to optimize these conditions. In the case of cultivated wild blueberries, most of the 37,000 hectares under cultivation in Quebec are certified as Wild Boreal Blueberries, which means that no synthetic inputs are used during the production year. This makes it more difficult to achieve optimal environmental conditions.

The results of this project will provide tools to support producers and ensure the competitiveness and development of Wild Boreal Blueberry and organic blueberry production sectors, two of Quebec’s specialties.

Objective(s)

• Improve soil conditions (temperature, bulk density, and water and nutrient status) to enhance soil mineralization capacity.
• Measure the impact on fruit yield of interventions carried out to improve soil conditions.
• Compare the yield gains obtained to the cost of the interventions.
• Reinforce the “water withdrawal” approach as an indicator of effective fruit yield.
• Disseminate relevant results to the farming community.