For University of Guelph professor and researcher Dr. Mary Ruth McDonald, protecting plants has been a primary focus for the past 25 years in U of G’s Department of Plant Agriculture. But her expertise also leads her to play an important leadership role in the University’s largest partner collaboration.
A stubborn new fungus is attacking Ontario onions. Luckily, it does not cause food-borne illness, but it could make your onions smaller and more likely to sprout in storage, leading to potential lost revenues for growers and lower-quality onions for consumers.
Hidden in plain sight—if that’s even possible, with Ontario’s bustling Highway 400 cutting through it—is one of North America’s most influential vegetable field research facilities, the Government of Ontario’s Bradford Muck Crops Research Station.
As field research stations go, it’s hidden because it’s relatively small. At just four acres, it’s about the size of four football fields.