Saskatchewan's a potential spud powerhouse, scientist says

Saskatchewan produces just a tiny percentage of Canada's potatoes, but that could change in the future due to global warming, a University of Saskatchewan scientist says.

Horticulturist Doug Waterer said small increases in the temperature could turn the province into an ideal place to grow vegetables — especially potatoes.

At the same time, if it gets much warmer, some existing potato-growing areas could see their yields substantially reduced.

"Most areas of the world … the temperatures are already a little too high for potatoes. And if they are already too high, if things get much warmer the anticipated effect is really going to be quite devastating," Waterer said.

"I saw some data that indicated just a two-degree increase in global temperature will result in a 30 per cent reduction in global yields of potato."

Saskatchewan has the land base and untapped irrigation potential to dramatically increase potato production, Waterer said.

A one-degree C increase in temperature will result in a two-week extension of the growing season, Waterer said.

That would also make the season long enough to grow most warm season vegetables like tomatoes, corn and peppers, he said.

Right now, more than 90 per cent of the vegetables people in Saskatchewan eat on a daily basis come from outside the province. That's a market worth $30 million to $40 million.

Saskatchewan grew about 111,000 tonnes of potatoes last year, compared to around five million across Canada.

Oliver Green, a former vegetable producer, said the future could be bright, but having enough workers experienced in vegetable production could be a major hurdle to turning Saskatchewan into a vegetable powerhouse.

"There's been no concerted effort on the part of government to, first of all, train young people coming along to grow vegetables," Green said.

"And secondly, there's no immigration program to bring people from other provinces or countries to Saskatchewan to grow vegetables."

But once that hurdle is overcome, Saskatchewan could become a major vegetable producer in North America, Green said.