Abstract
To address food insecurity in northern Canada, some isolated communities started gardening initiatives to reduce dependencies on expensive foods flown in to communities. From 2012–2014, soils in northern Ontario James Bay lowlands were cultivated with bush beans and potatoes, grown in sole and intercropping configurations, in an open field and an agroforestry system enclosed by willow trees. The objective of this study was to compare the supply rates of 15 plant-available nutrients in these soils using in situ ion exchange membranes. After three years of cultivation, the agroforestry site had significantly greater supply of PO4, Ca, and Zn and these nutrients had positive correlations with yield. By contrast, the open site had significantly greater supply of Mg, SO4, and B; these nutrients, and Al, had negative correlations with yield. Whilst there were no differences between sole and intercropping configurations, significantly greater supply of NO3, Ca, Cu, Fe, and Zn occurred early in the growing season, compared to significantly greater supply of K, SO4, B, and Al later in the season. Significantly greater yields have been harvested in the agroforestry site and it is suspected that the presence of a willow shelterbelt improves the microclimate and plant-available PO4, Ca, and Zn.
Highlights
We examine if agroforestry and intercropping management practices provide soil nutrient advantages compared to cultivating in an open field and sole crop
The supply rate of NH4 –N, Pb, and Cd was excluded from this analysis because >70% of samples collected for each nutrient were below detection limits (DL)
Baseline information on subarctic land cultivation is essential to determine northern agriculture practices that are suitable for effective crop production and to mitigate potential environment and health risks
Summary
In some subarctic communities of Canada, agriculture is being introduced as a climate change adaptation strategy to improve food sufficiency and mitigate current food insecurities [3,4,5]. There is an increasing international interest in northern food production to abate anticipated global food insecurities [1,2]. Both assessment and development of adaptive northern agricultural practices are currently lacking yet are imperative for high-latitude food production initiatives to become sustainable strategies [1,2]. There are concerns that northern agriculture growth, without adapted practices, would negatively impact environmental health, including the deterioration of biodiversity, increased carbon losses, and adverse effects on water and nutrient cycles [1,2]
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