Developing quinoa production in Eastern Canada

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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.