Abstract:
Potatoes are an "entry level" cultivar with modest thermal requirements. Potato cultivation that
has a scant history in Ontario's Far North may be able to contribute to the food security of the
region in the unfolding decades of this century. The potential for growing potatoes (Solanum
tuberosum) in Ontario's Far North is examined from current climate and future climate
perspectives. Using two growing-degree day thresholds, the frost free period, and available
climate data, the current climatic potential for growing potatoes at Moosonee, Fort Albany,
Neskantaga (formerly Lansdowne House) and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (formerly Big
Trout Lake) is assessed. Using climate change projections the future climatic potential for
growing potatoes is assessed for these communities and for Peawanuck and Fort Severn until the
end of the century. Moosonee, Fort Albany, Neskantaga and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug
had the requisite thermal conditions to grow potatoes at present. Using climate change
projections for the region, Peawanuck will meet the potato growing threshold by the 2020s and
Fort Severn will do so by the 2050s. Projected intensification and lengthening of the growing
season in the region suggests that other more thermally intensive produce, in addition to
potatoes, may be possible this century. |
