Validating microbial indicators of potato field productivity based on metagenomic analysis

Description

IRDA identified microbial indicators based on data collected at 64 sampling points in 16 production zones in Québec from 2013 to 2015 as part of the project IRDA-901098 (IA116102). The microbial indicators are used to calculate a biological productivity score for soils in potato fields.

The current project is designed to check the predictability of the biological productivity score using these microbial indicators for rotation crop years and potato crop years.

Partners in the industry will help evaluate 240 new sampling points in 60 production zones. An economic analysis will be conducted to assess the farm-scale profitability of a management approach based on a combination of the validated biological score and the optimum-nitrogen-dose model.

Objective(s)

• Validate microbial indicators of soil productivity and the predictability, in terms of potato yield and quality, of the biological productivity score developed under project 901098 (IA113102)
• Determine through economic analysis the farm-scale profitability of a management approach based on a combination of the validated biological productivity score and the optimum-nitrogen-dose model—This approach will have an impact on inputs and potato yields and quality