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

曲海的大田作物（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，但也是使用含草甘膦除草剂（GCH）的主要原因。在大幅度减少这些除草剂使用的同时保持大田作物高产，对于在可持续环境中保持农业部门繁荣具有战略意义。在与曲海省农业、渔业和食品部（MAPAQ）的密切合作下，这一跨学科项目旨在全面描述在曲海省不同的田间作物系统中大量使用GCH对关键农业土壤功能的影响，如养分保持和循环、防止板结、保水和固碳。以及以草甘膦及其主要降解产物（氨基甲基膦酸）在农业溪流中的渗透为代表的水质。由我们的支持公司SCV Agrologie推广的一种很有前途的直接播种覆膜种植系统，需要很少的GCH施用，将在曲海的两个气化带参与农民的农田和粮食研究中心（CEROM）的试验田进行试验。我们将开发一个动态的社会经济环境模型，以确定使用不同GCH率的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。利用与MAPAQ领土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，我们将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科学家，以应对在曲海和世界其他地方向田间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，使其在生产的质量和可持续性方面脱颖而出

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