Organic No-Till Systems in Eastern Canada: A Review

Caroline Halde, Samuel Gagné, Anaïs Charles and Yvonne Lawley
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Caroline Halde: Département de Phytologie, Université Laval, Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Samuel Gagné: Département de Phytologie, Université Laval, Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Anaïs Charles: Département de Phytologie, Université Laval, Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Yvonne Lawley: Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada

Agriculture, 2017, vol. 7, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: For more than a decade, studies have aimed to adapt the agronomy of organic no-till systems for the environmental conditions of Eastern Canada. Most research on organic no-till practices in Eastern Canada has been conducted in the province of Québec, where 4% of farms are certified organic, and results from these trials have been published in technical reports available in French. The objective of this review was to revisit previous research work on organic farming in Eastern Canada—the majority of which has been published as technical reports in the French language—in order to highlight important findings and to identify information gaps. Cover crop-based rotational no-till systems for organic grain and horticultural cropping systems will be the main focus of this review. Overall, a few trials have demonstrated that organic rotational no-till can be successful and profitable in warmer and more productive regions of Eastern Canada, but its success can vary over years. The variability in the success of organic rotational no-till systems is the reason for the slow adoption of the system by organic farmers. On-going research focuses on breeding early-maturing fall rye, and terminating cover crops and weeds with the use of bioherbicides.

Keywords: no-till; organic agriculture; roller-crimper; cover crop mulch; rotational no-till; green manure; catch crop; living mulch (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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