Sep 5, 2018

Soil enrichment enables vegetable production in remote far north

A Canadian project has concluded that a soil-enriching method makes it possible to build a reliable, sustainable vegetable production in remote northern communities.

On Sept. 4, while speaking at the Sahtu Secretariat Inc. and Sahtu Dene Council Annual General Meeting in Tulit’a, Michael McLeod, Member of Parliament for Northwest Territories congratulated K’asho Got’ine Community Council on a recently completed project valued at $50,100 through the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program.

The K’asho Got’ine Community Council in Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories is one of four Indian Band Councils that are members of the Sahtu Tribal Council which is part of the Dene Nation in the Northwest Territories. K’asho Got’ine Development Corporation is the Indigenous business arm of the K’asho Got’ine Community Council in Fort Good Hope, a community of 500 residents.

This investment helped the organization lead a community-scale cold-climate agriculture pilot project to assess the local soil and climate conditions required for the production of various types of vegetables, focusing on 20 potato cultivars, and provide solutions for soil quality issues.

“This pilot project was to develop a real, simple and reliable local agricultural system that has the best chance of producing a reliable food system across northern communities,” said Chief Wilfred McNeely, K’asho Got’ine Community Council, Fort Good Hope. “The project proved that our cold climate adaptive technology is feasible. We can develop crops above the permafrost, and our next step is to purchase and install a greenhouse for commercial vegetable production.”

Agriculture plays a large role in Canada’s north, with over 230 farm operators in the Yukon and Northwest Territories in 2016.