Chronica - Acta Horticulturae

Table 2. Area of greenhouse vegetables in Canada, in ha. Official estimates from Statistics
Canada, Catalogue No. 22-202-XIB, 2005.
Provence Tomato Cucumber Sweet pepper Lettuce Total 2
Ontario 254 154 119 3 530
Quebec 41 17 x 4 62
British Columbia 118 29 90 x 1 237
Alberta 12 22 6 x 40
TOTAL 425 222 215 9 869
1 x = Confidential data, 2 Includes confidential data
Double poly greenhouse (Leamington,
Ontario).
2. The BC industry lies at a latitude of about
49°N, similar to Northern Europe. The
Leamington industry (42°N) is about the
same latitude as that of the Northern border
of California or Rome, Italy. It follows that
day length and similarly affected weather
parameters would be different between BC
and South Western Ontario.
2. The BC industry is modeled closely on
European technology, with a large part of it
made up of typical Venlo style glasshouses.
The Leamington industry is modeled on a
blend of European and North American technology
with a large part of it made up of
double inflated polyethylene covered greenhouses
(Canadian design).
Because of these differences the greenhouse
industries of BC and South Western Ontario are
distinctly different (the Quebec and Alberta
industries being somewhere in between) with
different problems and opportunities.
The raised gutter system.
Significant new greenhouse vegetable production
technology that was transferred to commercial
producers has been primarily responsible
for dramatic yield increases over the last
15 to 20 years, estimated at 200-300% for
tomatoes and cucumbers (Anon., 1990, 1993,
2005b; Papadopoulos, 1991a,b, 1994a,b).
TRENDS IN THE GREEN-
HOUSE VEGETABLE SECTOR
Product quality and safety are seen as key elements
on which to build the strength of the
greenhouse vegetable market. Despite the
occasional problems of the greenhouse vegetable
industry, the long-term prospect looks promising
when one considers their market potential
in North America. The optimism about the
future is derived from a comparison of the
levels of fruit and vegetable consumption in
North America with those of the Europeans.
Statistics show, for example, that Europeans
consume ten times the cucumbers that
Canadians eat and 100 times the cucumbers
that Americans consume. The on-going change
in consumer preferences towards fresh, natural,
healthy foods can be expected to result in
increased demand for greenhouse vegetables.
Furthermore, it is proposed that the future prosperity
of the Canadian greenhouse vegetable
industry lies largely in the US market because of
the untapped consumer potential of big cities
like New York, Boston, Detroit and Chicago. It
is widely believed within the industry that a lot
of work can be done in North America to stimulate
the consumption of greenhouse vegetables.
The flourishing greenhouse ornamental
industry in both Canada and USA, and its
reliance on the benefits of promotion, advertising,
information, research, and education is
seen as an example to be followed. Given the
market potential, a continuous research and
technology transfer effort will be required to
ensure high production efficiency and marketability
of the final product.
GREENHOUSE VEGETABLE
RESEARCH
The Greenhouse Vegetable Research Team at
the Greenhouse and Processing Crops Research
Centre (http://res2.agr.ca/harrow/index_e.htm)
supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food
Natural gas burning boilers for the heating
of commercial greenhouse (Leamington,
Ontario).
Canada in Harrow, Ontario, with plant physiology,
plant pathology, entomology, and greenhouse
environment control inputs is the largest
of its kind in North America. Specialized
research facilities on-site and close proximity to
the largest concentration of greenhouse vegetables
in North America have offered, for
several years, near ideal conditions for the conduct
of truly mission-oriented research and
have allowed Harrow to emerge as an internationally
recognized centre for greenhouse vegetable
research. Other human resource inputs
into greenhouse vegetable research in Ontario
are presently at the University of Guelph.
On a national basis, a second equally important
research program on greenhouse vegetables is
supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada at the Pacific Agricultural Research
Centre (http://res2.agr.ca/parc-crapac/agassiz/
index_e.htm) in Agassiz, BC and a new smaller
program at Laval University in Quebec City,
Quebec. The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
(AAFC) greenhouse vegetable research program
at Agassiz, BC had its origins at the
Saanichton Research Station, which had
achieved international recognition in the 1970s
for its pioneering work on sawdust as a
growing medium. The program at Agassiz
serves the greenhouse vegetable industry of BC
(and Alberta).
Major centres of greenhouse vegetable
research are also maintained by Laval University
and McGill University (MacDonald College) in
Quebec. The program at Laval University was
strengthened considerably in the last 15-20
years. The establishment of the Horticultural
Research Centre (www.crh.ulaval.ca) under the
leadership of A. Gosselin was certainly a turning
point for greenhouse vegetable research
and training in Quebec (Reed, 1987). In fact,
Laval University trains and graduates, by far, the
largest number of graduate students (including
many from foreign countries) specializing in
greenhouse vegetables than any other
University in Canada (and likely in the USA).
CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 47 • NUMBER 3 • 2007 • 25