The Ontario government invested $1.3 million into research for developing new practices and on-farm solutions for fruit, vegetable and field crop farmers to prevent or control costly crop diseases and pests and improve production practices.

“We know plant diseases can be very difficult to deal with and expensive for farmers,” said Ernie Hardeman, Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “By giving crop farmers up-to-date information and tools, they can make better decisions to sustain and improve crop health and productivity.”

Through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, the province is funding research projects at the University of Guelph to help optimize production and minimize the damage and economic losses caused by crop diseases and pests on Ontario farms, including:

• Surveillance for blight management decisions in field tomatoes
• Investigating the threat of onion thrips to greenhouse floriculture pest management programs
• Developing approaches to combat Fusarium disease in wheat
• Assessing management in sugar beets to reduce crop disease
• Investigating production of a year-round supply of high-quality potatoes for Ontario
• Improving grape rootstock to prevent winter losses in sensitive areas.