The Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station is testing winter camelina, Anvol and Holganix
Winter camelina
September 22, 2022 – Thunder Bay, Ont.
The Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station in Thunder Bay is always looking for new opportunities for its area producers by testing new crops and products. This year these include:
1. Winter camelina: Winter camelina is an oil seed crop from the mustard family. Dr. Tarlok Sahota, LUARS Director, obtained this seed from Christina Eynck, Research Scientist, Oilseed Breeding for Biofuels and Bioproducts, AAFC Saskatoon. This is a short-season crop that possesses very good frost tolerance in the seedling stage and the full-grown plants exhibit good drought tolerance. It is resistant to flea beetles and black leg disease. Pod shattering is not an issue in camelina, therefore it can be straight cut.
Winter camelina flowers in late April, earlier than other crops – and even earlier than most spring-flowering wild plants. Consequently, its flowers are prized by many native pollinators as well as honey bees. Camelina flowers provide abundant pollen and nectar for them. Late August to mid September is considered an optimum window for seeding winter camelina in the Prairies. LUARS is trying to determine its optimum time of seeding and winter survival potential under the region’s agro climatic conditions by seeding it at 10 days interval from August 25 to September 25.
2. Anvol: Anvol is a urease inhibitor, a nitrogen stabilizer, with double ingredients - NBPT (Agrotain) and Duromide from Koch Agronomy Services, Calgary. Urease is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea, forming ammonia and carbon dioxide. Untreated urea quickly hydrolyses in moist soils and is subject to losses of N as ammonia through volatilization. Anvol gets to work faster and provides a longer duration of protection from nitrogen loss through volatilization. Koch Agronomy Services sells urea treated with Anvol; farmers therefore don’t have to treat urea with it. LUARS is comparing Anvol treated urea with urea, ESN, urea superU and their blends in spring and winter wheat.
3. Holganix Bio 800+: Holganix contains more than 800 species of microbes. It is claimed to improve plant performance and yield by maximizing soil health and uptake of nutrients, minerals and water, increasing plant resilience against various stresses, boosting root architecture, faster crop establishment, improving nutrient use efficiency and lowering fertilizers and herbicide needs. Some of the soil microbes contained in Holganix Bio 800+ Agriculture include both Phosphorus and Micronutrient Solubilizing Bacteria, Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria, Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria, Plant Debris Degrading Bacteria and Fungi, Mycorrhizae Fungi, Trichoderma Fungi, Penicillium Fungi, Beneficial Nematodes, and Protozoa. LUARS is testing Holganix in winter wheat and winter rye.
For more information, you can reach Dr. Sahota at tssahota@lakeheadu.ca or (807) 707-1987.
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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8110 ext. 8372 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked, once again, among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities in Maclean’s 2021 University Rankings; as well as included in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2022 World Universities Rankings for the third consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 10,000 students in THE’s 2022 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.