Page 251 - Plant Canada 2024 Proceeding

PLANT CANADA 2024

Season extension technologies (e.g. row covers, plastic mulches, thermal tunnels) can help address short
growing seasons by providing a warmer and more sheltered root-and-shoot-zone microclimate for
germinating and growing crops, particularly in the colder shoulder seasons. Season extension
technologies can accelerate development and increase crop yield; however, they can also provide ideal
conditions for pests and pathogens. Despite their potential importance for local vegetable production in
Northern boreal communities, there is a lack of systemic evaluation of season extension technologies for
production in these climates.

The overall goal of our research was to evaluate season extension technologies across a range of
Northern boreal sites (Whitehorse, YK; Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL; St. John’s NL) to determine their
effects on phenology, yield and damage by pests and pathogens in two vegetable crops. First, we
evaluated combinations of degradable bio-plastic mulches (which warm soils and trap moisture) and low
tunnels (which warm air temperatures and maintain humidity) for a model warm-climate crop (green
beans; Phaseolus vulgaris). Second, we evaluated bio-plastic mulch for potato (Solanum tuberosum)
production; potatoes are a staple Northern boreal root crop, which are strongly impacted by low soil
temperatures.

We found that bioplastic mulches significantly increased damage to crops by both pests and pathogens;
neither bioplastic mulches nor low tunnels had a consistent positive effect on yield relative to controls in
any of the sites across three years. Bioplastic mulches also showed poor breakdown at the NL sites,
which impacted plant growth, likely by providing shelter to insect pests. However, mulch breakdown was
better at the Yukon site, which was the only site that demonstrated positive effects of mulch on yield in
some years. This suggests specific climate conditions (potentially longer daylight) alters the effect of
some season extension technologies in Northern boreal growing systems, which indicate further avenues
for investigation.

[P96] BENEFIT: BIO-INOCULANTS FOR THE PROMOTION OF NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY AND
CROP RESILIENCY IN CANADIAN AGRICULTURE. George C diCenzo, Matthew G Bakker, Terrence H
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Bell, Derek G Brewin, Olivia Wilkins, and Ivan J Oresnik. Queen’s University, Canada; University of
Manitoba, Canada; University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada
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Correspondence to: olivia.wilkins@umanitoba.ca

Chemical fertilizers have contributed to the dramatic rise in global crop yields over the past 50 years.
However, they also account for as much as 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions associated with
Canadian agriculture. In the case of nitrogen fertilizer, only 40-50% of applied nitrogen is assimilated by
plants, with the lost nutrient becoming run-off or converted to nitrous oxide. To reduce the climate impact
of growing crops, suitable alternative methods of promoting crop nutrition without reducing crop yields
should be developed. Microbes have great promise to become a key and widespread tool in reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture through nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization, and
promoting root development. However, inoculants have often failed to reach their potential outside of lab
conditions and often behave unpredictably in different fields, thereby limiting their use by farmers. To
overcome these limitations, the BENEFIT project is undertaking a genomics-driven approach to develop
microbial inoculants supporting wheat, barley, canola, kale, bean, and pea nutrition in Canada.

*[P97] RENSEQ-BASED REFINEMENT OF BRASSICA NAPUS NLROME. Jiaxu Wu , Soham
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Mukhopadhyay , Coreen Franke , and Edel Pérez-López . Départment de phytologie, Faculté des
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2
sciences de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada; Centre de
recherche et d’innovation sur les végétaux (CRIV), Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada; Institute
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de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada; L’Institute
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EDS, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada; Centre SÈVE, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke,
J1K 2R1, QC, Canada; and Nutrien Ag Solutions Canada, Saskatoon, SK, S4N 4L8, Canada
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Correspondence to: edel.perez-lopez@fsaa.ulaval.ca

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is primarily cultivated as an oilseed crop with significant economic value.
However, the emergence of devastating diseases such as clubroot and blackleg threatens the canola
industry. Nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat (NLR) genes play a crucial role in initiating a robust
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