McCain Foods

Research Collaboration

Summary
Dr. Ahmad Al-Mallahi is an expert in agriculture engineering and sensing technologies, with an overall research goal to develop techniques and technology that help farmers improve efficiencies, maintain or improve sustainable operations, and produce high-quality crops. He works to develop smarter machinery with sensors that can provide much-needed data in the agriculture sector — data that can better assist farmers with planting, harvesting, and cultivating.

As McCain Research Chair, Dr. Al-Mallahi’s research program is designed in collaboration with McCain Foods and Potatoes New Brunswick in an effort to explore precision agriculture solutions that can be applied to the challenges and variabilities involved with potato production.

In one project, Dr. Al-Mallahi’s research team is working on technology that can allow producers to target the application of herbicides and pesticides to only the field locations that require them. Avoiding uniform spraying patterns can decrease environmental impact and save on operational costs.

Another project focuses on developing feedback mechanisms that can help producers measure and assess the distribution of their seeding so they can compare yields to planting strategies and better evaluate the performance of their machinery.

The research team is also working to develop sensors that can detect crucial nutrient levels within a shorter timeframe than most current methods can provide, giving producers the information they need when they need it most.

Read more: McCain Research Chair working to develop new farming tech 

Researcher

• Dr. Ahmad Al-Mallahi
  Assistant Professor - Department of Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture
  McCain Research Chair