Maintaining high yields in field crops while reconsidering the option of using glyphosate

魁北克省的大田作物（谷物玉米和大豆）面积超过80万公顷，是农业收入的最大来源之一，但也是含草甘膦除草剂（GCH）使用量最大的作物。保持大田作物高产同时大幅减少这些除草剂的使用对于在可持续环境中保持农业部门繁荣具有战略重要性。该跨学科项目与魁北克省农业、渔业和粮食部密切合作，旨在全面了解魁北克省不同大田作物系统大量使用GCH对关键农业土壤功能的影响，如养分保持和循环、防止压实、保水和固碳，以及以草甘膦及其主要降解产物（氨甲基膦酸）在农业溪流中的渗滤为代表的水质。由我们的支持公司SCV Agrologie推广的一种很有前途的直播覆盖种植系统将在魁北克省的两个气候带的参与农民的田地和谷物研究中心（CEROM）的试验田中进行测试。我们将开发一个动态的社会-经济-环境模型，利用不同的GCH率来确定种植系统的中期盈利能力和长期可持续性以及生态系统服务。我们将使用与MAPAQ地区规划者合作开发的软系统方法，并通过研究小组成员与大田作物农民社区之间的频繁交流，限制大规模采用替代种植系统的条件。我们的项目将招收4名博士，2名专业硕士和6名本科生，因此将有助于培养年轻的科学家，以应对魁北克和世界其他地方向大田作物生产可持续性过渡的复杂和必要的挑战。此外，该项目将有助于保持加拿大大田作物部门在国际市场上的竞争力，使其能够以其生产的质量和可持续性而脱颖而出。

Field crops (grain corn and soybean) in Québec cover over 800 000 hectares and represent one of the largest source of agricultural revenues but are also responsible for most of the use of glyphosate-containing herbicides (GCH). Maintaining high field crops yields while drastically reducing the usage of these herbicides is of strategic importance for keeping the agricultural sector prosperous in a sustainable environment. In close collaboration with the Québec Ministry of Agriculture, fisheries and food (MAPAQ), this interdisciplinary project aims at establishing a comprehensive portrait of the impacts of massive usage of GCH in different field crops systems in Québec on key agricultural soil functions such as nutrient retention and recycling, compaction prevention, water retention and carbon sequestration, as well as water quality represented by the percolation of glyphosate and its main degradation product (aminomethylphosphonic acid) in agricultural streams. A promising direct seeding mulch-based cropping system, promoted by our supporting company SCV Agrologie and requiring little GCH applications will be tested in two climatic zones of Québec in fields of participating farmers and in experimental plots at the Grain Research Center (CEROM). We will develop a dynamic socio-economic-environmental model to establish the mid-term profitability and long-term sustainability and ecosystem services of cropping systems using various rates of GCH. Using a soft system methodology developed in collaboration with the MAPAQ territorial planners and through frequent exchanges between members of the research team and field-crops farmers community, we will circumscribe the conditions of large scale adoption of alternative cropping systems. Our project will enroll 4 Ph.D., 2 professional M.Sc. and 6 undergraduate students and thus will contribute to train young scientists to the complex and necessary challenge of transition to sustainability of field crop production in Québec and elsewhere in the world. Besides, this project will contribute to keeping the Canadian field crop sector competitive on the international market, allowing it to distinguish itself by the quality and sustainability of its production