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*Actual technology may not be exactly as shown.
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Better than before
What do you want from the coming months?
While the time for New Year’s resolutions may be past, it remains a time of reflection on the previous year and consideration for the growing season ahead.
Goal-setting can be difficult in agriculture, with so many variables beyond your control. It’s tempting to think about determining success by yields and profits – and for good reason, as they’re the main metrics that net bragging rights and put money in the bank. But a stretch of bad weather or major weather event at the wrong time can put the kibosh on recordbreaking yield aspirations faster than you can say “looks like rain.”
You may have heard of SMART goals – the acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. It’s a set of parameters to make sure you’re not setting yourself up for failure or disappointment right off the bat.
The time-bound factor is probably the easiest to determine; you can use the entirety of the 2023 growing season, whenever that ends for you. Or you can pick a longer period of time, if your project is larger in scale than one season can accomplish.
Saying you want to have soil organic matter levels of five per cent or more is great. But if your soil samples show two percent, is it reasonable to think you can push that number up by 150 per cent or more in one growing season – or even three? What steps will you take to make it happen?
So, with a little consideration and running the numbers on what’s doable for you, the goal could be “I want to increase my soil organic matter by X per cent from Y per cent to Z per cent (based on what’s realistic for my soil and farm operation) by 2027, which I will accomplish through W management practices (growing a cover crop or spreading manure, perhaps) during the 2023 growing season.” Wordy, but it hits all the SMART goal parameters and will be easier to track and reflect on come next January.
And remember – setting a goal isn’t only about achieving it. Adages like “shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” or “it’s not the destination; it’s the journey” may have been rendered a bit cheesy through repetition, but the sentiments have merit.
Whether you accomplish exactly
“Remember – setting a goal isn’t only about achieving it.”
Consider: “I want to improve my soil.” Well, okay – how? In what ways? What measures will you take? Are your expectations reasonable? Breaking down a goal into its constituent parts can point out weaknesses in the plan or help you consider what might be more realistic.
what you set out to do, do better than you did before, or completely bellyflop and take only lessons and some bruised pride from the experience – you tried something with the intention of improvement.
And, come this time next year, you’ll be that much better equipped to try it again. •
Botrytis control you can count on.
Miravis® Prime fungicide provides an unmatched level of Botrytis control so you can protect what’s most important: quality and yield.
For more information, visit Syngenta.ca, contact our Customer Interaction Centre at 1-87-SYNGENTA (1-877-964-3682), or follow @SyngentaCanada on Twitter.
Performance evaluations are based on internal trials, field observations and/or public information. Data from multiple locations and years should be consulted whenever possible. Individual results may vary depending on local growing, soil, and weather conditions.
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Photos taken in Norfolk County, ON, on September 24, 2019.
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Gowan Canada launches new miticide
Gowan Canada’s Magister SC miticide has been granted registration by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). The new miticide will be available to Canadian growers for the 2023 growing season.
Magister SC is a flowable formulation containing the active ingredient Fenazaquin, a Group 21A mode of action (MOA). It provides rapid action against certain species of mites in both Eriophyidae and Tetranychidae families (commonly called gall mites and spider mites, respectively) and pear psylla. In addition to these important pests, Magister SC is also classified as a FRAC Group
39 fungicide. This MOA is unique amongst other miticides, offering growers labelled control of powdery mildew in pome fruit, small fruit climbing vine, stone fruit, and cucurbits.
“Magister SC’s rapid knockdown under a range of conditions in key crops, along with proven activity on powdery mildew, will enable Canadian growers to continue producing high-quality fruits and vegetables,” said Dale Ziprick, product manager for Gowan Canada, in a statement.
Contact your local Gowan Canada sales representative to learn more about Magister SC miticide. Always read and follow label directions.
NEW B.C. PLANT AND ANIMAL HEALTH LAB IN PLANNING STAGES
The B.C. government is planning to build a new Plant and Animal Health Centre to provide diagnostic services that support agricultural producers, food safety and the growth of a resilient food system in the province.
The new facility will be based in the Fraser Valley and designed to offer laboratory services to B.C.’s agricultural and veterinary sectors, including disease and virus diagnosis in wild and domestic birds, mammals, fish, reptiles
BY THE NUMBERS – Pesticide benefits
Thanks to pesticides, organic and conventional Canadian farmers can grow:
On average, fresh fruits and vegetables would cost 45% more in Canada if pesticides weren’t available to increase crop yields
By using pesticides, Canada’s annual harvest value is increased by:
and amphibians, as well as hundreds of plant pests and diseases.
Though it has returned to near full operations and services, the current Plant and Animal Health Centre in Sumas Prairie was severely damaged by
99.9% of fresh fruits and vegetables in Canada (domestically grown and imported) test well below pesticide residue limits set by Health Canada.
the 2021 flooding and is at risk of future flooding. A business plan is being prepared for a new facility that will provide enhanced animal and plant health services to B.C. producers in a more secure setting.
GLOBALLY, FARMERS HAVE TO CONTEND WITH:
30,000 species of weeds
10,000 species of plant-eating insects
89.3% of Canadian-grown fruits and vegetables have no detectable residues of pesticides. Statistics courtesy of CropLife Canada.
3,000 disease species
Getting to the root of plant parasitic nematodes
Nova Scotia has launched a three-year project to examine plant parasitic nematodes in horticultural crops to provide producers with updated management practices for the region.
BY MICHELLE CORTENS AND MATTHEW PEILL, PERENNIA
Sometimes plants grow poorly. You know the plants we’re talking about. They’re stunted, growth is uneven throughout a production area, production is delayed, root systems are small, yield is low and some are dying. No obvious explanation exists aboveground. When the cause is belowground, in the soil, the issue can seem like a mystery.
Preliminary sampling has revealed a high population density of plant parasitic nematodes in horticultural crops. Nematodes are microscopic roundworms that feed on roots, causing direct damage. They also compromise roots by providing entry points to other soil-borne fungal and bacterial pathogens.
Recognizing the increasing threat of nematodes, the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture partnered with Perennia Food and Agriculture to initiate a three-year project to determine the diversity and distribution of plant parasitic nematodes affecting horticultural crops in the province and
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develop and adapt management practices for the region. To do this, systematic nematode sampling is being performed across the province along with on-farm management trials.
The objective of systematic sampling is to map the presence of plant parasitic nematodes within Nova Scotia. Our goal is to collect over 200 samples from producers across the province, with 125 samples having already been collected throughout 2022. Initially, samples were sent to external labs for quantification, but now Perennia’s Plant Health Lab is performing nematode sample analysis.
Sampling is targeted for when nematodes are most active in spring and fall, when the average soil temperature Is between 10 and 20 C. In addition to the nematode population data, we are also collecting surveys on cropping history and management at each site to determine what practices may be affecting nematode populations.
Two major nematodes of concern in Nova Scotia
Close up of a root-lesion nematode as seen under a microscope.
are root-lesion and root-knot nematodes, which affect a wide variety of vegetable, berry and tree fruit crops. Root-lesion nematodes damage plants by entering and feeding on the cells of the root. As the nematodes move from cell to cell, the root tissue dies, leaving distinctive black lesions that are entry points for plant diseases.
Root-knot nematode females embed themselves in plant roots, causing galls to form, which impacts root function. Plant nutrients are diverted to the galls to feed the nematode as they swell with eggs that they then lay into the soil.
After systematic sampling is completed, we will have a better understanding of these nematodes and their relationships with different crops in Nova Scotia, as well as other plant parasitic nematodes.
Next, we aim to inform regional management practices by expanding our provincial extension knowledge. The decision to withdraw Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) registration of a broad-spectrum fumigant containing methyl bromide in Canada was followed by an emphasis on more environmentally sustainable chemistries and integrated management practices. The latest sugges-
tions for preplant nematode management have not yet been tested in Nova Scotia’s unique climate, creating an opportunity to evaluate and recommend new strategies.
Research has shown that cover crops, such as certain species of mustards, sorghum-sudangrass and ryegrass, can kill root-knot and root-lesion nematodes, and pearl millet can be a poor host. Cover crops can also reduce soil-borne pathogens – a secondary cause of crop loss in fields with high nematode populations. We are evaluating the impact of such cover crops in select crops, including apple orchards and carrot and strawberry fields.
In the case of established perennial apple and strawberry crops, it’s too late for the benefits of cover crops. Few options exist to mitigate the damage caused by nematodes after crops have been established. However, we’ve recently gained access to Velum Prime, a newly registered nematicide which causes paralysis in plant parasitic nematodes. There are also reports of Movento offering nematocidal activity. We included the chemistries in our field trials to explore their efficacy. Both chemistries boast better safety for the user and environment than older chemistries.
To test the efficacy of the practices in our field trials, we took samples of soil and roots before and after treatments to evaluate for nematodes. Nematode populations can be hit-and-miss, so our samples were composed of a mixture of soil cores taken throughout the trial area.
Finally, we strive to improve our understanding of the nematode population in Nova Scotia, including the influence of fluctuations in soil temperature and moisture over the season. We chose two different land use situations to monitor that had known populations of root-lesion nematodes and root-knot nematodes. The sites, an established orchard and a green fallow site, were then sampled sequentially for nematodes. We hope to gain insights into the best times to sample and implement management practices.
An integrated approach to control parasitic nematode populations is needed for sustainable crop production. Solutions need to be effective and reliable for their widespread adoption. So, we’ve got our boots on the ground in search of management practices that reduce plant parasitic nematode populations.
Solutions you can trust to protect your fruit and vegetable crops.
Meeting a market OPPORTUNITY
If there’s a market for it, why not grow it? The more information Johnny Kashama discovers from his project on the adaptability of ethnocultural vegetables in northern Ontario, the more he sees this market as a unique opportunity for growers.
High adaptability and consistent demand: a new project highlights the potential in ethnocultural vegetables.
BY KAITLIN PACKER
“The population is shifting,” says Kashama, agricultural manager at Collège Boréal in Sudbury. With more newcomers in Canada, there’s more opportunity to market vegetables that are not traditionally grown here. “The demand for ethnocultural vegetables is considerable,” he adds.
“Monthly spending on ethnocultural vegetables by only three ethnic groups in Toronto – Chinese, South Asian and African Caribbean – is estimated to be $61 million per month in the greater Toronto area alone.”
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After seeing such a high demand for them, Kashama started this project last year by testing multiple varieties of amaranth, okra, yardlong beans, hibiscus and African eggplant in an on-farm trial. “When I came to Canada, [...] I said to myself, [...] most of the people from Africa, they really struggle [...] to find the right food that they are used to.” This motivates him to not only find a solution for consumers, but also to show Canadian growers how they can benefit from getting involved in this market.
Many ethnocultural vegetables can take months to ship frozen. Even so, they sell for a premium. “African eggplants, sometimes it goes up to $10 per pound,” says Kashama. That’s significantly higher than
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHNNY KASHAMA.
Johnny Kashama checks on an ethnocultural vegetable trial plot.
HOW TOBRFV AFFECTS FIELD CROPS
Banks points out that greenhouse crops are the most vulnerable to the virus for a few reasons, including growing and working conditions unique to the environment.
In greenhouses, workers are constantly in contact with plant material, making them ideal vectors for spreading the virus as they prune and harvest.
Although the virus can affect fieldgrown tomatoes, there’s a lower risk of crop loss because of how field tomatoes are produced, says Banks.
difficult to get rid of, so even washing your hands with soap and water won’t kill it. It may help get the virus off of your skin, but it won’t inactivate the virus,” says Banks.
The USDA recommends cleaning and sanitizing equipment, tools and footwear with EPA-approved disinfectants, such as a 10 per cent bleach solution made of one part commercial bleach and nine parts water. It also recommends using certified virus-free transplants, seeds and graft materials, and limiting crop handling that might wound plants to prevent the introduction of ToBRFV.
Because ToBRFV can be challenging to tell apart from other diseases and conditions, producers play an important role in mitigating the spread because they know what healthy plants should look like.
“You don’t have people out there touching the crop, maintaining the crop, cutting it and trimming it and spreading the virus.”
That said, because ToBRFV can spread via movement of people and equipment, the disease can still infect field crops. But it’s less of a concern for field producers, says Banks.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SLOWING THE SPREAD
No treatment is currently available for ToBRFV-affected plants. That means that producers are the first line of defense when it comes to slowing the spread of the virus, says Tracey.
Crucial aspects of mitigation include strict biosecurity protocols, properly disposing of infected plant material, and maintaining good sanitation. “It’s pretty
Banks points out that because ToBRFV can be challenging to tell apart from other diseases and conditions, producers play an important role in mitigating the spread because they know what healthy plants should look like.
“When they see something that is off, and it has some of the symptoms that would match something like ToBRFV, they can send it off to get tested,” says Banks.
Growers who believe they have encountered ToBRFV can contact their local Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) office.
But growers aren’t solely responsible for stopping the spread of ToBRFV, Tracey points out. “[Each] person in the supply chain has an important role to play in helping to limit the spread of the disease, including seed producers, transplant growers, marketers, government, suppliers, etcetera.”
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Discoloured leaves are a symptom of ToBRFV.
A BURGEONING SOLUTION
While certain tomato varieties have some resistance to ToBRFV, no variety is currently completely resistant to the virus, says Banks. Even plants with some resistance or tolerance can still harbor the virus, but they may show no symptoms or symptoms may progress more slowly.
Vineland’s collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), funded through Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG), AAFC, and OMAFRA, involves screening diverse tomato lines for ToBRFV. The project aims to breed tomato varieties with total ToBRFV resistance or immunity.
Using DNA sequencing to better understand crosses allows researchers to use plants with the highest likelihood of developing traits like disease tolerance. It’s this fine-tuned sequencing and selection process that has allowed for such a rapid timeline, adds Banks.
“If everything goes really well, in 2025, we should have material for greenhouse producers in Leamington to start testing.”
BROAD SPECTRUM FUNGICIDE
• Protects fruit & veg crops from: Botrytis, Powdery Mildew, Anthracnose, Early Blight, Gummy Stem Blight, Phomopsis, Downy Mildew & Leather Rot (see label for det ails)
Haskap, also known as edible blue honeysuckle or honeyberry, is a fast-growing berry akin in colour and consistency to blueberries, but with tangy notes of raspberry and rhubarb.
Found growing wild in the cold northern boreal forests of Canada, Russia and Japan, haskap are high in vitamin C and polyphenols and packed with more antioxidants than blueberries. These medicinal properties make the fruit and leaves a go-to treatment for fever and stomach pain, while the frozen berries are popular in smoothies. Haskap berries are also eaten fresh and processed for use in jam, wine, syrup, juice, ice cream and baked goods.
In Canada, the commercial haskap industry emerged in 2007, largely in Quebec, where the fruit is known as camerise. Today, the hardy perennial can be found everywhere from the harsh climes of northern Ontario and Quebec to the warm, humid southwest coast of British Columbia.
“Haskap is one of a few horticultural fruit crops that can thrive in parts of northern Ontario, which is helpful for diversifying production and markets in that area of the province,” Elford says.
SLOW TO GROW, THEN WATCH THEM GO
On average, haskap plants take four years to bear fruit. But once they hit their stride, plants can produce for 25 to 40 years.
“They are easy to grow, but very slow in the first few years,” says Gambles, who recommends transplanting from tissue culture in the fall, as the bushes grow larger the following summer after overwintering in the orchard.
Cross-pollination is needed for better fruit set, with a suggested ratio of one pollenisor plant for every eight main variety plants.
“Pollination in year four is critical,” Gambles says. “That will be the first large yield, but only if there are lots of pollinators available early in the season.”
Haskap blooms even before dandelions, when there are few wild pollinators making the rounds. Growers can consider contracting domestic beehives to ensure a high yield. Keeping a ring of standing hay around the orchard may encourage wild bees to nest there overwinter.
Growers should plant rows three metres apart and use plastic mulch to control weeds, while avoiding commercial fertilizer for the first three years in favour of keeping 10 per cent organic matter in the soil. “Preferably well-rotted dairy manure,” Gambles says. “The high calcium content seems to go directly to the leaves, as shown by plant tissue tests.”
Once the plants start producing, Gambles suggests pruning lower stems to allow for airflow and discourage diseases like powdery mildew.
CULTIVATING KNOWLEDGE
The haskap varieties developed by Bors at the University of Saskatchewan can be grouped seasonally – early summer versus midsummer, for example – to allow for ideal cross-pollination and extend the pick-your-own and farmers’ market season. But determining the best cultivars to plant differs from region to region and even farm to farm.
Part of the problem, Elford says, is a lack of experience growing the same cultivars in a variety of hardiness zones and conditions.
“Many growers begin with four or more cultivars and evaluate how well they do on their particular site for their specific
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Haskap’s early season can extend pick-your-own offerings.
end uses,” Elford says, noting that newer haskap cultivars have been bred as eating and cooking berries, while some older cultivars were bred for ornamental purposes.
To deepen their understanding of haskap, Elford and his colleagues conduct cultivar trials, evaluate various ripening and harvest products, and study harvest timing by cultivar. Plans are in the works to establish a nitrogen fertility trial for haskap as well.
Gambles finds his customers prefer the Aurora variety, as its skin is slightly harder and therefore less susceptible to bruising when picked.
“It is not the first to ripen, however. It’s about three weeks behind Tundra, the earliest variety,” he says. “Customers wait for Aurora to ripen, so an orchard with 50 per cent Aurora could work well.”
Developing new varieties that have Aurora’s skin hardiness will allow haskap to hold its own with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, Gambles says. “Otherwise, prepare to freeze the crop and sell in a format that can be held for months without spoilage.”
The roughly 20 members of the growers association collaborate with research institutions like Collège Boréal in Ontario, the University of Guelph and OMAFRA on projects that include evaluating the presence of virus in trialed haskap plants, finding the varieties most resistant to insect and disease pressure, and how best to overcome poor pollination and preserve the berries after harvest.
Since 2015, haskap growers have worked with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Pest Management Centre to develop and secure regulatory approval for fungicides to counter powdery mildew, herbicides to control weeds, and insecticides to address pest pressure, though those options remain limited.
“A lot of trial-and-error on-farm research is being done by growers in the industry,” Elford says. “Birds are by far the biggest issue in haskap, as they forage on ripening and ripe berries.”
Rabbits and deer looking for a snack can also damage the plants, while researchers are keeping an eye on the potential threat posed by spotted wing drosophila.
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Q&A: Biological basics
Biologicals are a hot topic these days, with several companies releasing new or updated bio products onto the market in recent years. But what are these products and how are they used? Rose Buitenhuis, senior research scientist, biological control, at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Vineland, Ont., recently spoke with Fruit & Vegetable on this topic. She breaks down what biologicals are, the types of biological products being researched at Vineland, as well as what to know or consider when using a biological product.
Listen to the full interview at fruitandveggie. com/podcasts/biological-basics-with-vinelandsrose-buitenhuis/.
Let’s demystify – what are biologicals?
There’s a lot of products that have bio in the name and they’re all related. It’s very hard to classify them because there’s a lot of overlap. The reason why we named our program [at Vineland] biological crop protection is because there’s a lot of bio products.
Bioprotectants basically encompass everything – biological pesticides, bio-pesticides, bio-stimulants. When you go into more detail, biological control, or biocontrol, is really a name for a method of controlling pests and diseases with other organisms. So, these are predators, parasitoids and pathogens – the microbials – that will control pests, diseases, and also weeds. Then there’s the bio-pesticides: those are pest management agents and chemicals derived from natural sources.
Are bio products broadly usable across crops, or are they more particular in terms of how they interact with specific crops?
I think the words I say most when talking about this are, “It depends.” And it really does – some bio-products have a very broad spectrum of crops they can protect; others are more situation-specific.
Products that are on the market are really optimized for specific uses and you can find those uses on the label. If you are looking for a product that does something, that’s where you would look for information.
Now, the research part is, of course, interesting, if you’re starting to look at what else it does and how it interacts with your production system, with the biocontrol you may be doing, with the fertilizer you add. Growing plants, you have to consider a lot of different factors to optimize the system. So, knowing what these products do and how they fit into your production system is, I think, really important.
As an example, in biological insect control there are parasitoids that attack aphids. You may want to use another predator to control a different pest, but you have to know how the parasitoid and this different predator actually interact with each other – because they may eat each other. The predator may not discriminate between the prey that you’re using them for and the other biologicals you have.
It’s a complex system.
“Growing plants, you have to consider a lot of different factors.”
Microbials are also sometimes called bio-pesticides. So, you have the microbial pesticides, but you also have natural compounds like semiochemicals, which are a kind of message-bearing chemical; these could be pheromones, which are used in monitoring traps to disrupt the mating of insect pests to help reduce the damage.
Then there’s the non-conventional pest control products, which are also part of bio-pesticides. This includes things like garlic powder, vinegar, plant extracts and oils, mineral salts – all that kind of products.
Last but not least, there’s the biostimulants, which could be microbes, but could also be a compound that stimulates the plant to do something. So, if you put it directly on an insect or disease, it will not do anything. It uses the plant’s own mechanisms to make the plant grow better.
Exactly. Especially if you try to integrate the use of chemical pesticides and biological control. Even products that you think might never interact with each other, like a systemic insecticide and a biological control – through the plant and through the pest, they are connected. So, you would have to consider the effects on your overall pest control program.
Are biological products usable in an organic system?
Logically, you would say it’s biological, so it should be organic as well. However, organic certification is something that’s not given to all biological products based on how they’re formulated.
The insects – the predators and parasitoids –those can be used in organic systems. Some of the bio-pesticides may be formulated in a way that’s not certified organic.
So, always look at the label to know if it’s certified organic or not.•
