Developing quinoa production in Eastern Canada

加拿大东部的粮食生产主要由少数几个品种主导，而这些品种是在相当大一部分农田上生产的。这种有限的多样性与杀虫剂抗药性、土壤退化以及更容易受到大宗商品价格波动的影响等问题有关。藜麦是一种作物，近年来人们对它的兴趣和需求都有了相当大的增长，部分原因是独特的营养特性。目前生产集中在南美，加拿大的产量有限，仅限于西部省份。在加拿大东部进行的初步试验表明，在当地种植藜麦是可行的，但有几个因素限制了产量，包括对最佳农艺措施的了解有限和害虫的流行。观察到的收益率表明，生产是有利可图的，但它们仍然高度不稳定。要在加拿大东部推广藜麦生产，必须减少这种变异性，并确定最佳管理做法。此外，必须确定机会，使当地生产商的市场多样化，以便与来自南美的较大生产商竞争。我们的项目将解决这些问题，从而将有助于使加拿大东部的农业生产多样化。具体目标是：1)评估不同地区的品种，以确定它们对魁北克大环境的适应性；2)确定影响种子产量的环境因素和最敏感的生长阶段间隔；3)评估控制藜麦最有问题的害虫的不同策略；4)确定种植密度对真菌病原菌发病率、植物发育和种子产量的影响；5)确定最适合加拿大东部的品种的营养特性和化学成分；6)探索藜麦的潜在增值用途。这些具体目标将通过在魁北克多种不同环境和实验室中进行一系列实验来实现，这些实验最终将使合作伙伴能够制定最佳的实地管理做法，并为当地生产者确定和开发市场。

Grain production in eastern Canada is dominated by a few species that are produced on a significant proportion of the agricultural land. This limited diversity has been associated with issues such pesticide resistance, soil degradation, and greater susceptibility to volatility in commodity prices. Quinoa is a crop for which interest and demand has considerably grown in recent years in part due to unique nutritional properties. Production is currently concentrated in South America and the production in Canada is limited and restricted to western provinces. Preliminary trials conducted in eastern Canada have demonstrated that local quinoa production is possible, however, there are several factors limiting production including limited knowledge of optimal agronomic practices and prevalence of pests. Yields observed suggest that production can be profitable, but they remain highly variable. For quinoa production to be expended in eastern Canada it is essential to reduce this variability and define best management practices. In addition, it is essential to identify opportunities to diversify markets for local producers to compete with larger producers from South America. Our project will address these issues and thus will contribute in diversifying agricultural production of eastern Canada. Specific objectives are to: 1) Evaluate cultivars in different regions to determine their adaptation to the mega-environments of Quebec, 2) Identify environmental factors affecting seed yields and most susceptible growth stage intervals, 3) Evaluate different strategies to control most problematic pests in quinoa, 4) Determine the impact of plant density on incidence of fungal pathogens, plant development and seed yields, 5) Characterize the nutritional properties and chemical composition of cultivars most adapted to eastern Canada, 6) explore potential value-added uses for quinoa. These specific objectives will be addressed by conducting a series of experiments in multiple contrasted environments of Quebec and in laboratories that ultimately will allow partners to develop best field management practices, and identify and develop markets for local producers.