Ottawa Research and Development Centre
The Ottawa Research and Development Centre (Ottawa RDC) located in Ottawa, Ontario was established in 1886 by the Government of Canada under The Experimental Farm Station Act. It is one of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC) network of 20 research and development centres.
Areas of Research
Ottawa Research and Development Centre’s regional mandate is to develop new and improved spring and winter wheat, oats, barley, corn and short-season soybeans varieties and investigate agronomic practices and technologies for eastern Canada.
The Centre houses several national biological collections and leads biosystematics research on insects/arachnids/nematodes, fungi/bacteria and vascular plants relevant to agriculture, including biological control of invasive species. Ottawa RDC leads national research in carbon and nitrogen cycling in air, water and soil.
In addition, the National Identification Services (NIS) helps various agencies by providing authoritative identification of insects/nematodes, plants, fungi, and bacteria as required by various federal and provincial legislations.
Search Research projects from the Ottawa Research and Development Centre to learn more about what we do.
Sector Needs
The Ottawa RDC carries out innovative research, development, technology and knowledge transfer activities in support of the AAFC's Strategic Plan for Science, which includes:
Crop improvement at Ottawa RDC focuses on Eastern Canadian producers located between Manitoba and PEI with an emphasis on oats, wheat (Spring and Winter), barley, corn and soybean. Experts in crop breeding, genetics, genomics, molecular biology, physiology, agronomy, pathology, quality evaluation, and mycotoxin chemistry are working to strengthen the linkages along the value chain (from production to processing and consumption), improve food attributes, and address threats to Canadian agriculture.
Research is conducted to enhance the environmental performance of agricultural production systems, and to maintain or access new international markets. Research includes:
- Studying and monitoring changes in soils, crop conditions, land use and land management (from watershed to national scales) using satellite technologies and integrated modeling.
- Developing new methods and technologies to produce and analyze data describing soil, land use and climate for agricultural areas in Canada to improve agricultural land management, land use planning and policy development.
- Systems-based research and modeling to understand the effects and trade-offs of management practices at the field, farm and watershed scale on soil microorganisms, nutrients, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and airborne and emerging contaminants to assess and mitigate agricultural impacts on the environment (e.g., air and water), public health and agricultural productivity.
Biodiversity research includes assessing agricultural biodiversity (vascular plants, fungi, bacteria, insects, arachnids and nematodes), identifying emerging risks, and assessing impact on international trade and regulatory compliance. Biosystematics research on organisms critical to Canadian agriculture (new and existing crops, their relatives; weeds; pests, beneficial and biocontrol insects, arachnids and nematodes; plant diseases and plant-enhancing fungi; animal pathogens and plant-growth-promoting bacteria) helps to protect crop production and contribute to crop diversification.
Meet our Scientists
Find out more about the scientists at Ottawa 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.
More information
Scientists and researchers
Publications
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Jégo, G., Delmotte, S., Crépeau, M., Larbi-Youcef, Y., Chantigny, M., Qian, B. Simulation par une approche participative de l’effet de systèmes agroécologiques sur l’évolution de la matière organique des sols. XIII STICS Seminar STICS, 13-16 November 2023, Bordeaux, France.
2023 - View publication details
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Khadka B, Chawla HS, Edwards T, Lévesque-Lemay M, Zheng C, You FM, Pozniak CJ, Cloutier S (2023) Transcriptome analysis and genome annotation of diploid Aegilops species. Proc 5th Canadian Wheat Symposium, Vancouver, Nov 13-16, P17
2023 - View publication details
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Vasudevan A, Lévesque-Lemay M, Edwards T, Cloutier S (2023) Synthetic hexaploid wheat: to use or not to use? Proc 5th Canadian Wheat Symposium, Vancouver, Nov 13-16, S2 (oral, plenary)
2023 - View publication details
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Binggeli S., Jégo, G., Ouellet, V., VanderZaag, A., Thivierge, M.-N., Wright, T., Qian, B., Charbonneau, É. 2023. Consommation d’eau par les fermes laitières: bilans actuels et projections futures. 47e Symposium sur les bovins laitiers, Drummondville, QC, 8 novembre 2023. Affiche scientifique.
2023 - View publication details
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Des Marteaux, L.E., Martin, A., and Skevington, J. 2023. GenARCC: Using genomic data from insect collections to understand impacts of climate change. (Entomological Society of America annual meeting – Maryland, USA)
2023 - View publication details
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Des Marteaux, L.E., Reynolds, S., Callaghan, C., Raine, N.E., Skevington, J, and Young, A. 2023. Identifying habitats that best support pollinator communities in agricultural landscapes. (Entomological Society of America annual meeting – Maryland, USA)
2023 - View publication details
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Kang, J., Earl, H. J., Hooker, D., Smith, W., & Nasielski, J. (2023) Improvement of Crop Heat Unit By Accounting for Physiological Mechanisms [Abstract]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, St. Louis, MO. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2023am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/152161
2023 - View publication details
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*Foroud NA, Eranthodi A, Witte T, Hicks C, Overy D, Schwinghamer T, Beccari G, Tini F, Covarelli L, Harris LJ, Chatterton S. Dissecting the role of Fusarium avenaceum mycotoxins in cereal and pulse crop diseases. 14th World Mycotoxin Forum. Antwerp, BELGIUM. October 9-11, 2023. Invited.
2023 - View publication details
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Boisclair-Joly, S., Fernandez-Triana, J.L., Abram, P.K., & M.T. Franklin. Canadian agricultural pests and their natural enemies: first steps in compiling a compendium of VIPs (Very Important Parasitoids). Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of British Columbia. Sept 15-16, 2023.
2023 - View publication details
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P. K. Abram* and P.G. Mason (2023). Benefits and risks of biological control in North America. International Organization for Biological Control-WPRS/IOBC Global working group meeting, Averio, Portugal, September 11-15, 2023 (invited oral presentation).
2023 - View publication details
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