Page 230 - Plant Canada 2024 Proceeding

PLANT CANADA 2024

[P53] ALTERNATIVE WEED MANAGEMENT OPTIONS IN ATLANTIC CANADIAN POTATO
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PRODUCTION. Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill , Ashley Nicolle MacDonald , Laura Anderson , Scott White ,
Aaron Mills , Aitazaz Farooque , Marie-Josée Simard , and Robert Nurse . Agriculture and Agri-Food
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Canada, Charlottetown Research and Development Centre; Dalhousie University Department of Plant,
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Food, and Environmental Sciences; University of Prince Edward Island School of Sustainable Design
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Engineering; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Research and Development
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Centre; and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Harrow Research and Development Centre
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Correspondence to: andrew.mckenzie-gopsill@agr.gc.ca

Potato producers across the Atlantic Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick
rely on a few herbicides to provide the majority of their weed management. Increasing incidence of
herbicide resistance in select species, a shift away from cultivation for weed control to minimize soil
losses, and minimal investment in herbicide discovery, however, is challenging producers to develop
novel methods of managing weeds in potato. Over the past several years researchers in Atlantic Canada
have evaluated a suite of novel weed management tools and practices designed to target weeds in potato
crops and in rotation to minimize their impact on productivity. This poster presents results from several of
these efforts including the development of a real-time precision smart sprayer, testing suitability of crop-
topping, the application of projectile abrasives, harvest weed seed control, and weed suppressive cover
crops in rotation. Several of these technologies can provide acceptable control of weeds in a potato crop
and more importantly provide significant reductions in additions to the weed seedbank. Further, we
demonstrate that the use of cover crops can be important weed management tools by competing with
weeds in rotation years and providing a carry-over effect following their incorporation.

*[P54] MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC RESPONSES OF WATERHEMP TO ENVIRONMENTAL
CONDITIONS. Sreedevi Ramachandran, Rene Van Acker, and François Tardif. Department of Plant
Agriculture, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON. N1G 2W1
Correspondence to: sramacha@uoguelph.ca

Waterhemp is a very competitive weed that has been spreading into Ontario in the last few years. Two
varieties of waterhemp are recognized based on ecological and morphological characteristics: a riparian
form, A. tuberculatus var. tuberculatus (tall waterhemp) and the agrestal form, A. tuberculatus var. rudis
(common waterhemp). The agrestal form likely derived from the riparian form as it moved into fields,
developing specific adaptations in the process. One question is whether these adaptations would allow
var. rudis to be more adaptable than var tuberculatus to environmental conditions associated with climate
change (e.g. temperature, drought, etc). We hypothesise that the agrestal form of waterhemp will show
morphological and physiological variations demonstrating a greater capacity to adapt to the
aforementioned factors compared to the riparian form. In this study, we grew two populations each of the
riparian and the agrestal forms of common waterhemp in growth rooms under increased temperatures
and reduced soil moisture conditions, such as could occur due to climate change. The growth and
physiology of the plants were examined by measuring biomass accumulation, phenology, and
reproductive allocation. Our preliminary results show that there is a significant decrease in plant height,
biomass accumulation and reproductive allocation under high temperature and drought in all populations
and riparian populations had less vegetative and reproductive biomass compared to the agrestal
populations under high temperature and decreased soil moisture level. In addition, riparian populations
were smaller plants and flowered earlier compared to agrestal populations under temperature and
drought stress. We will identify and compare the drought and temperature-related microRNAs produced
in all populations to identify the drought and temperature-responsive genes in the two varieties of
waterhemp. The results of this study will help to predict the adaptive capacity of waterhemp to climate
change, thereby contributing to developing appropriate management strategies to control this weed in the
context of a changing climate.

*[P55] RESPONSE OF PROSTRATE SHRUB FUNCTIONAL TRAITS AND COMMUNITY NDVI TO
LIMITING NUTRIENTS AND DEEP SNOW IN ARCTIC TUNDRA HEATH COMMUNITIES. Liam Baron-
Preston, John Markham, and James D. Roth. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba,
Biological Sciences Building, 50 Sifton Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2
Correspondence to: baronprl@myumanitoba.ca

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