Émilie Thomas is currently studying at ENSAT (École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse) in France. As part of her engineering training, in September 2005 she will begin an applied agronomics diploma in plant agribiosciences with an option in plant breeding.
She is currently on a 10-week internship at the Horticulture Research and Development Centre (HRDC) in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. During her internship, she is working jointly with Gaëlle Reynaud on two projects:

1). The study of deficiencies among various cultivars of strawberry plants; and
2). The evaluation of raspberry selections compared to known cultivars.

Work summary :

Study of deficiencies in various strawberry cultivars

The goal of this study was to establish a mineral deficiencies identification key that is suited to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu cultivars, with supporting photographs. To conduct the study, runners of each strawberry cultivar were planted in nutrient solutions that were deficient in one element, and the appearance of symptoms was observed. Deficiencies in nitrogen, calcium, sulphur, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and other trace elements were studied among the following cultivars: ‘Annapolis,’ ‘Chambly,’ ‘Clé des champs,’ ‘Glooscap,’ ‘Honeoye,’ ‘Jewel,’ ‘Kent,’ ‘L’Acadie,’
‘Saint-Pierre,’ ‘Sparkle,’ ‘Veestar’ and ‘Yamaska.’ 

Assessment of raspberry selections

The purpose of this study is to compare relatively unknown raspberry selections to known varieties in order to evaluate their performance with a view to registering them for plant breeders rights. Four selections were used: 88–18, 88–117, and 88–134, as well as SJR942-7, which is an advanced selection. They were compared to the ‘Boyne,’ ‘Festival,’ Killarney’ and ‘Nova’ cultivars for various criteria: 

1). Yield (total weight harvested in a 2-m length) and size (weight of a 25-fruit sample);
2). Post-harvest storage at room temperature; monitoring the development of three pathogens:   Botrytis, Rhizopus and Penicillium; and
3). Various qualitative characteristics of the fruit: both physical (firmness, adherence to receptacle, drupelet cohesion, shape, size and down) and chemical (soluble solids and acidity).

Address :
Émilie THOMAS
Institut National Polytechnique
École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse
Avenue de l'Agrobiopole - Auzeville-Tolosane
BP 107- F 31326 Castanet-Tolosan Cedex
tél. : 33 (0)5 62 19 39 00 - fax : 33 (0)5 62 19 39 01 

The person in charge of the training course: Shahrokh Khanizadeh