McGill.CA / Plant Science / Field research facilities

Barley field sown for educational purposes. It is used by the students of the Farm Management Technology program and by students of Agricultural Science.

Crop physiology conducted on growth promoters in canola. To ensure quality data, experimental fields must be protected from animals, such as deers and crow.

The Emile A. Lods centre owns two small plot grain combines that are extensively used for research on grain crops. It is seen here harvesting grain amaranth in early November.

Weighing and drying room equiped with high capacity dryers for drying experimental material.

The view from Chemin Ste. Marie. The main building comprising offices and laboratories is seen here behind the row of maples.

In the hot month of July, harvesting of vegetable peas as part of a cultivar trial.

The Emile A. Lods sign after a heavy snow storm.

The Emile A. Lods Centre is also used to conduct research on the potentiel of alternative crops. Here, the "forgotten" Aztec crop grain amaranth is seen in the fall light of mid-September.

Weighing forages from plots of new alfalfa cultivars, under the supervision of the provincial organisation CRAAQ.

Emile A. Lods Agronomy Research Centre

Centre's raison d'être

This site provides environmental conditions that are representative of the most intensive horticultural and field crop production areas in the region, yet it is in a semi-urban area, with ready access to two major highways and public transit. The facility is thus ideally situated to serve a large pool of researchers in agricultural science, environmental science, plant biology and engineering. This infrastructure consists of research land, buildings and specialized equipment. Recent renovations and equipment purchases have been designed specifically to improve our capacity to host a larger number of external users. The equipment includes a global positioning system (GPS), a no-till seeder, plot combine, forage harvester, tractors, trucks, a near-infrared reflectance instrument and a photosynthesis system. The GIS database of the facility includes grid soil sampling for nutrient levels, weed survey, topographic survey, and geo-referenced mapping of field layouts and buildings. The facility also has access to data on air pollutants and maintains continuous monitoring of air and soil temperatures, relative humidity etc.

The main areas of research conducted at the centre are

  • Plant genomics and breeding
    • The centre is used by a cultivar development program (cereals) and for the scientific evaluation of new and established cultivars (cereals, soybean, forage crops, vegetable crops). Our centre is essential for the development of materials for research on plant genomics and for phenotyping of these materials for plant productivity traits, disease responses and end-use quality traits.
  • Greenhouse gases and climate change
    • Users of our facilities are actively engaged in research on greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural sources and on the effects of climate change on crop production. Current research includes monitoring a long-term field site under different tillage practices for the carbon sink capacity of the soil, nitrous oxide emissions and soil respiration.
  • Water resources
    • Research is conducted on the water savings and efficiencies of different irrigation systems for horticultural crops. The results of this research will be especially important as climate change forces the use of low-quality water for irrigation.
  • Precision agriculture
    • An interdisciplinary and interuniversity team uses our facilities for field experiments designed to examine the link between precision agriculture and remote sensing. The field trials are used to evaluate airborne sensors and ground spectral measurements in order to study crop response under various stresses (moisture, weed, and nitrogen).
  • Nutrient cycling in agro-ecosystem
    • Research in this area includes investigation of how earthworms and soil microbial communities affect crop productivity and development of best management practices for animal manure, especially with regards to phosphorus accumulation in agricultural soils.
  • Crop physiology
    • Areas of particular interest include molecular signaling within crop plants (salicylates), CO2 uptake and photosynthesis, biomass production and physiological responses of horticultural crops to production practices especially plasticulture and fertigation.
  • Plant-microbe interactions
    • On-going research is examining the symbioses of legume crops (soybean, forage legumes) with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and other aspects of rhizosphere biology and ecology. Bioherbicides are being developed for environmentally sound control of major weeds in urban and rural areas.

Contact information

Emile A. Lods Agronomy Research Centre
20965 chemin Ste-Marie
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue (Québec) H9X 3Y7
Tel.: 514-398-7874

See location in Google map

Tags: 
Agronomy Research Centre.
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