Vegetable crop physiology, nutrition and integrated crop management

Research Interests:

Vegetable physiology and integerated crop management. Current research concentrates on optimization of vegetable crop nitrogen nutrition and integerated crop management. Studies are underway to develop pre-sidedress nitrogen requirements for sweet corn grown on sandy soils. Nitrogen requirement for broccoli grown on sands is being studied. This study includes nitrogen uptake, loss, biomass partitioning, relationship to head disorders and the effects of nitrogen on vitamin C content of the crop. In other studies, a mineral soil ammendment is being evaluated as a soil improvement treatment using sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers and cabbage as assy crops. Other work includes cultivar trials on selected vegetable crops.

Broccoli nutrition trial.

For further information please visit:
http://www.plant.uoguelph.ca/research/homepages/amckeown/

Selected Publications:

Westerveld, S.M., A.W. McKeown, C.D. Scott-Dupree, and M.R. McDonald. (2002). The effect of nitrogen on insect and disease pests of onions, carrots, and cabbage. The Journal of Vegetable Crop Production, Accepted June 15, 2002.

J.W. Potter and A.W. McKeown Nematode biodiversity in Canadian agricultural soils. Can. J. of Soil Sci. in press

J.W. Potter and A.W. McKeown Inhibition of Pratylenchus penetrans by intercropping of Rudbeckia hirta and Lycopersicon esculentum in pot cultivation. Phytoprotection, in press.

McKeown, A.W. and J.W. Potter. (2001). Yield of 'Superior' potatoes, (Solanum tuberosum) and dynmanics of of root-lession nematode (Pratylenchus penetrans) populations following "nematode suppressive" cover crops and fumigation. Pytoprotection 82:13-23.

McKeown, A.W., R.F. Cerkauskas, J.W. Potter and L. Van Driel. (1998). Long term evaluation of cover crop and strip-tillage on tomato yield, foliar diseases and nematode populations. Can. J. Plant Sci. 78: 341-348.