- Climatic conditions
- Labour availability
- Proximity and access to North American markets
Mexico has access to a large and productive labour force that will be challenging to replicate in Canada. Canadian greenhouse operators are actively exploring approaches to integrate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in greenhouse operations to centralize data and optimize growing conditions in real-time. The use of AI and other efficiency disruptive technologies are not expected to replace humans, but can improve Canada’s competitiveness. Complementary to a productive labour force and favourable climatic growing conditions, Mexico has also benefitted from open and free trade with the U.S. supported earlier by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and now the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Simultaneously, Mexico fostered investments in large scale greenhouse facilities, improving its competitiveness overtime in providing fresh produce year-round that can reliably fulfill the U.S. demand. However, a growing trade imbalance between the U.S. and Mexico on fresh fruits and vegetables means there is pressure within the U.S. to explore legislative options that support its fresh produce industry43.
- Proximity and access to European markets
- Regional concentration
- Climatic conditions
Spain’s ability to scale centralized greenhouse production within a short period of time and optimize regional market access and trade is certainly a model to learn from. Centralization of production has enabled Spain to emerge as a greenhouse exporting leader. The southeast city of Almeria accounts for 72% of greenhouse vegetables in the country, spanning 98,000 acres—the largest concentration of greenhouses anywhere in the world44. Spurred from strategic development and a lack of land use planning, Almeria is a centralized hub market that accounts for more than 80% of Spain’s greenhouse vegetable exports to the European Union45. However, Almeria’s expansive network of greenhouses has created negative externalities for the environment and those working and living within the region, such as depletion and salinization of water supply and even changes to the microclimate of the region46. Mitigating negative impacts on local communities, pollution, and the workforce from expanding highly concentrated areas of greenhouse production requires an inclusive and strategic lens to planning and development.
- Investment in decarbonization
- Land-use efficiency
- High-skilled labour matches hi-tech industry
The Netherlands has a head start over Canada in navigating the complex landscape of producing more on less land, while mitigating GHG emissions. The country has limited land availability and has set GHG targets specifically for the greenhouse sector of 1Mt CO2 eq reduction by 2030 from 2016 levels, primarily from reducing emissions from energy47. The Netherlands’ target is coupled with enabling mechanisms such as the Energy Efficiency in Greenhouse Horticulture scheme, Green Label greenhouse certification, and demonstration projects to promote knowledge development and exchange. Packaging GHG targets with mechanisms designed to support the sector to grow and innovate while transitioning to a low-carbon system is a model that could be replicated by governments in Canada through initiatives such as the Sustainable Agriculture Strategy.
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