Coordination of a crop disease monitoring network for Western Canada
Surveillance of crop health issues provides growers, extension staff, researchers, government agencies, and industry stakeholders with information that enables informed decision making with respect to integrated pest management, setting research/funding priorities, product placement, and pest distribution and severity.
Coordinated monitoring of field crop insect pests in the Prairie Ecosystem
The Prairie Pest Monitoring Network is a collaborative project. Monitoring data is released on a weekly basis when insect pests pose the greatest threat to crop yield.
Climate-smart canola: quantifying soil- and fertilizer-derived nitrogen sources and greenhouse gas emissions
Ultimately, this research will contribute to the momentum of canola nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) research that is aimed to inform and incorporate NUE traits into commercial canola breeding programs.
Climate change resilience of Prairie oilseed crops and their below-ground microbiota under drought stress in controlled and field environments
This project will examine the soil, rhizosphere, and root microorganisms that are recruited by canola plants under stress conditions. It will also result in the isolation by culture of microbes (or groups of microbes) that could help plants adapt to the changing conditions currently being experienced on the Canadian Prairies.
Balancing economic, action, and seed production thresholds for glyphosate-resistant kochia in canola
This study will provide canola farmers with the information required to determine when a two-pass program is warranted and economically viable.
A meta-analysis of small-plot trial data to examine the relationship between crop development and environmental conditions in canola
The objective of this project was to utilize archived small-plot canola agronomic trial data and corresponding regional weather data to conduct a meta-analysis to examine the relationship between environmental conditions and canola emergence.
Updating the critical weed-free period in canola
This project will contribute to more efficient and sustainable weed management practices by optimizing canola genetics, plant stand densities and herbicide programs to achieve the above benefits.
Continue monitoring Leptosphaeria maculans populations following the introduction of new resistance genes Rlm2, Rlm4, and Rlm 7 for effective resistance deployment on the Canadian Prairies
This project aims to help guide the effective use of cultivar resistance, which, when used in combination with other management practices will help mitigate the impact of blackleg on the Prairies.
Introgression of clubroot resistance from B.rapa into B.napus canola and identification of molecular markers for resistance, and pyramiding of this resistance with other resistance gene
Several clubroot-resistant canola cultivars have been developed in Canada, however the newly evolved Plasmodiophora brassicae pathotypes have overcome some of the resistances. The long-term objective of this project is to diversify the clubroot resistant genes in Canadian canola for clubroot resistance and develop molecular markers for these resistances.
Investigating the role of plant hosts in the outbreaks of the aster leafhopper vectored Aster Yellows (AY)
Aster leafhoppers are the main vector of Aster Yellows Phytoplasma (AYp) in the Canadian Prairies. AYp causes Aster Yellows (AY) disease in many plant species but can greatly affect canola in outbreak years.
Characterizing Turbulent Spray Deposition from Self-Propelled Sprayers
The uniformity of a spray deposit is fundamental to a successful spray application. Spray dosage is directly related to pesticide performance. The timely, accurate and efficient application of pesticides is an important activity in modern crop production methods.
Canola frequency effects on nutrient turnover and root-microbe interactions
Crop rotation is an important component to sustainable, healthy agroecosystems aiding in disease suppression, nutrient cycling and risk mitigation. In this study, researchers examined the agronomic impacts of crop rotation strategies including canola-canola; canola-wheat; and canola-pea-barley.
Introgression of the highly effective Brassica rapa blackleg resistance gene Rlm11 into spring-type Brassica napus
Researchers with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada recently completed the genetic mapping of the blackleg resistance gene Rlm11. Rlm11 is effective against the L. maculans isolates carrying the avirulence gene AvrLm11, which is found in 95 percent of L. maculans isolates collected from western Canadian canola farms.
Effect of Cereal Crop Residue Distribution on the Following Year's Canola Emergence and Yield
Residue management is a significant challenge for producers on a year-to-year basis. Wheat and canola crops are often grown in rotation, and it is important to understand how wheat crop residue management can affect the emergence of canola in a rotation.
Arcand: Soil health and nutrient uptake among diverse canola lines - added value to crop phenotyping
Crops that can readily exploit and utilize soil nutrients more efficiently require less fertilizer inputs, offsetting input costs and reducing potential losses to the environment.
Enhancing the root microbiome in canola
Researchers wanted to continue the work to learn more about root microbiomes, identify the core microbiome in canola and in turn, improve fertilizer efficency in canola.
An on-farm approach to monitor and evaluate the interaction of management and environment on canola stand establishment
Canola cultivar was the most influential management variable on percent emergence and early growth rate, and also significantly impacted the spatial uniformity of emergence in this observational study.
Congreves: Developing a Soil Health Assessment Protocol for Saskatchewan producers - Phase I
A Saskatchewan Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Scoring Functions were successfully developed. This provides the foundation for developing tools that are capable of transforming a farmer’s routine soil test data into a Saskatchewan Soil Health Score.
Reducing toxicity of seed-placed phosphorus fertilizer in canola
Researchers initiated a two-year study in 2018 to determine the maximum safe rate of seed-placed P fertilizer with different opener widths and row spacing in canola; and to develop updated seed-placed P fertilizer guidelines for producers and crop advisors to use.
Carcamo: Validation of lygus and other insect pest thresholds in commercial farms throughout the Prairie Provinces
Lygus bugs are a sporadic pest of canola at the pod stage across parts of western Canada. In this four-year study, researchers were interested in validating the economic thresholds of lygus in commercial canola fields across western Canada.