A survey of New Brunswick (NB) and Prince Edward Island (PEI) potato fields in crop rotation phase prior to potato production was conducted in fall (October and November) between 2017 and 2021. A total of 113 and 126 fields for NB and PEI, respectively, were surveyed with 20 to 35 fields each year tested in each province. Root lesion nematodes (RLN, Pratylenchus spp.) were detected in 99 and 98% of the fields for NB and PEI, r...

Climate change-related warming and increased precipitation may alter winter snow cover and thawing events, and therefore, may carry significant consequences for nitrous oxide (N 2 O) production pathways such as denitrification, and the abundance and expression of denitrifying microorganisms. We used a soil microcosm study to investigate the combined effect of soil thaw temperature, initial water filled pore space (WFPS) prior...

An improved understanding of the contribution of a preceding forage crop to a subsequent potato crop can improve nitrogen (N) utilization in potato production. This study used two rotation experiments to estimate the N contribution from labelled shoot and root of red clover (RC, Trifolium pratense ), timothy (T, Phleum pratense ) and a red clover/timothy mixture (M) to a subsequent potato crop using microplots in the field. Fo...

Biofumigation has been proposed as an alternative to soil fumigation to manage soil-borne diseases including potato early dying disease complex (PED). This study examined the potential of using brown mustard ( Mustard juncea ) biofumigation to manage PED under rain-fed potato production in New Brunswick, Canada in two trials between 2017 and 2020 in comparison with chloropicrin fumigation and a conventional barley rotation. Bi...

Widespread global changes, including rising atmospheric CO 2 concentrations, climate warming and loss of biodiversity, are predicted for this century; all of these will affect terrestrial ecosystem processes like plant litter decomposition. Conversely, increased plant litter decomposition can have potential carbon‐cycle feedbacks on atmospheric CO 2 levels, climate warming and biodiversity. But predicting litter decomposition...