Charlottetown Research and Development Centre
The Charlottetown Research and Development Centre (Charlottetown RDC) was established in 1909 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It is one of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC) network of 20 research and development centres.
The Centre is associated with two satellite locations:
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Main laboratory and office complex in Charlottetown; and
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Harrington Research Farm with field and greenhouse research facilities north of Charlottetown.
Areas of Research
The focus of Charlottetown RDC science activities is on environmental sustainability, diversification and innovation in primary production agriculture, and the discovery and exploitation of bio-based products from new and traditional crops.
The Charlottetown RDC conducts research on diversified, integrated cropping systems with a focus on crop rotations, agronomy of new crops species or cultivars, characterization of crop nutrient cycles and their effects on soil and water quality, as well as the integrated and sustainable management of weeds, insects, and diseases.
Search Research projects from the Charlottetown Research and Development Centre to learn more about what we do.
Sector Needs
The Charlottetown RDC carries out innovative research, development, technology and knowledge transfer activities in support of the AAFC's Strategic Plan for Science, which includes:
Charlottetown RDC develops best management practices in heavily leached areas that are subject to intensive production to ensure sustainable agriculture in sensitive environments. A modern suite of chemistry labs and field research facilities help monitor the effects of cropping systems and practices on soil and ground water health.
Scientists develop integrated cropping systems suited to the Atlantic Region with a focus on the potato crop. Many of the cropping systems studied include cereals, oilseeds, pulses, and forages as part of a rotation involving horticultural crops. Disease, insect, and weed pressure are studied for their impacts on horticulture crops.
Bioproducts research focuses on screening natural products as potential bioprotectants (biopesticides, endophytes); identifying and developing bioenergy, bioindustrial chemicals, and bio-based materials using agricultural biomass platforms (cereals, oilseeds, pulses, forages, potatoes, by-products); and developing conversion technologies and engineering systems through feedstock improvement and utilization.
Agri-food
New food or feed bioactives with health and wellness benefits are identified through screening, characterized and their preliminary efficacy demonstrated (invitro, cell and tissue culture, animal studies).
Collaboration with cereal and oilseed breeding programs in eastern and western Canada evaluates cultivars and selections for vigour, yield and quality, and identifies/evaluates sources of genetic resistance to production diseases and potentially catastrophic threats.
Clean technologies for the discovery of natural products produced by beneficial soil microbes for the control of pathogens in potato and canola.
Meet our Scientists
Find out more about the scientists at Charlottetown Research and Development Centre through their profiles below.
You can also visit the Fields of Science campaign featuring 11 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientists from coast to coast. Discover why they chose to pursue a career in agriculture and learn more about their research.

Scientists and researchers
Publications
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Johnstone, Matters and Foster 2022. Survey of Fusarium head blight and leaf diseases of spring wheat on Prince Edward Island, 2021. Canadian plant disease survey 2022 volume 102: disease highlights 2021, Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, 44:sup1, S1-S187, DOI: 10.1080/07060661.2022.2076342.
2022 - View publication details
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Cloutier S, Fedak G, Fatima F, Bartaula S, McCallum B, Henriquez MA, Blackwell B, Aboukhaddour R, Foster A, Hiebert C, Humphreys G, McCartney C, Pozniak C, You F (2022) Tapping into wild relatives to improve wheat. ProciNorte Disease Task Force Webinars - Wheat & Grapes: Mitigating the effects brought on by climate change, Sept 13 & 15, Virtual (oral – invited)
2022 - View publication details
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Cloutier S, Fedak G, Fatima F, Bartaula S, McCallum B, Henriquez MA, Blackwell B, Aboukhaddour R, Foster A, Hiebert C, Humphreys G, Mccartney C, Pozniak C, You F (2022) Wheat Pre-breeding: the struggle(s) and potential. Proc. 37th Plant Sciences Graduate Students’ Symposium 2022, March 4-5, Virtual (oral)
2022 - View publication details
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Mutational genetics in the CRISPR era: where do we stand at AAFC?
2022 - View publication details
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McKenzie-Gopsill A, MacDonald N, Anderson L, White S, Noronha C (2022) The potato vine crusher – A new tool for harvest weed seed control. CWSS/WSSA Joint Meeting, Feb 22-24th 2022, online
2022 - View publication details
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McKenzie-Gopsill A, Mills A, Fraser T, Nyiraneza J (2022) Weed suppression of full-season cover crops in Atlantic Canada. CWSS/WSSA Joint Meeting, Feb 22-24th 2022, Online
2022 - View publication details
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T.K. Turkington, H. Klein-Gebbinck, K. Xi, B. Beres, R. Aboukhaddour, Prabhath Lokuruge, A. Mulenga, G. Peng, W. May, R. Mohr, G. Telmosse, D. Pageau, A. Foster, B. Blackwell, H. Kubota, B. Tidemann, and G. Semach. 2021. The impact of row spacing, seeding rate, and fungicide timing on leaf disease and fusarium damaged kernel severity, deoxynivalenol, and productivity of spring wheat. Proceedings of the 2021 National Fusarium Head Blight Forum, December 6-7, 2021. Page 30.
2021 - View publication details
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Cloutier S, Fedak G, Fatima F, Bartaula S, McCallum B, Henriquez MA, Blackwell B, Aboukhaddour R, Foster A, Hiebert C, Humphreys G, McCartney C, Pozniak C, You F (2021) The challenges and promises of pre-breeding. Can Soc Plant Biol – Eastern Regional Meeting. Virtual, Nov 27 (oral keynote plenary)
2021 - View publication details
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Beaton A, McKenzie-Gopsill A, Foster A (2021) Fungicide seed treatment influences on constant final yield achievement in soybean (Glycine max L.). Canadian Weed Science Society Virtual Meeting, Nov 23 2021, online
2021 - View publication details
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E. Johnstone, R. Matters & A. Foster. (2020). Causal species of fusarium head blight of spring wheat and winter wheat in Prince Edward Island in 2020. in CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PLANT PATHOLOGY 2021, VOL. 43, NO. SUP1, S92 https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2021.1932163
2021 - View publication details
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