Agricultural innovations in the age of climate change

Waterloo researchers test what it takes to convert forests to productive farmland and explore how to make that transition equitable By Chantal Vallis Faculty of Environment It's predicted that where we grow our food will have to shift north as increasing temperatures due to climate change make it too hot for crops to thrive near the equator. But moving our crops north, specifically into the Boreal Forest, is not as simple as it sounds. The problem is that the soil is not as fertile. Plus, one loses a lot of historically stored carbon that goes back into the atmosphere - carbon that is essential for the soil's health. With these challenges in mind, researchers from the University of Waterloo, in partnership with Memorial University, are testing what it takes to sustainably convert the land and explore what the biggest return in crop productivity is for the least amount of greenhouse gas emissions. "The goal of the project is to test land management systems and locally available materials that can improve the soil for agricultural use," says Maren Oelbermann, professor in the Faculty of Environment and the project co-lead. "The soil that is converted from forest to agriculture is acidic (low pH), so we are experimenting with treatments like biochar, fish and shrimp waste, and lime to correct the imbalance and optimize the production of crops like oats and peas." The project, BioSoil North: Local solutions for soil health resilience and mitigation of greenhouse gases , was launched in April 2023 and includes three sites in Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador - a subarctic region where the impact of climate change has already occurred, making it an ideal candidate for testing farming in the north.