how we can keep use the tundra to provided a SUBSTANTIAL food supply
The issue facing the tundra, like global warming and species extinction, as well as ridiculously unpredictable weather conditions make it seem near impossible to create a steady food supply for the tundra, but it can be done. Currently, sustainable farming methods in the tundra involve extensive fish farms and self-maintained gardens, but this just isn't enough. Some solutions to these issues include:
This is an image of produce growing a high altitude garden, looks just like normal.
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High Altitude, Alpine Farming Possibilities
This can, and has been done in the alpine tundra of the world. High altitude farming is fairly similar to farming in a lower altitude area. Barrier from the wind are necessary, in whatever form they come, whether this involves being in a gully or behind a wall. A very important variable when gardening in the tundra is to consider what plants are being grown, as this will change the positioning of them. If plants are growing on an east facing slope, they receive sun in the morning, if they slope towards the west they will be warmed by the afternoon sunshine. The Northern slopes are cool and refreshing in the summertime, but those which face south are parched and dry. Alpine planting for crops may not be the simplest to get running smoothly, but once the most effective positioning for plants is found, it is simply a matter of making everything work in succession with everything else. |
Large Arctic Greenhouse Community Solutions
At the current time, many individuals in the arctic regions rely on greenhouses to grow vegetable. Larger scale greenhouses could provide opportunities for fresh food production within in the tundra. Hydroponic gardens and greenhouses are the newest project in some tundra areas and are on the increase. Many greenhouses like the one in Kuujjuaq are just a community project at the moment, allowing members of the community to use garden beds as they desire. Self-managed, community based, or business based greenhouses like this could prospectively increase produce production in many areas of the tundra. The basic aim of these gardening solutions is to increase the growing seasons in the uncertain conditions of the tundra. Food security of large areas could potentially be increased immensely by implementing more projects like this one. |
This is an image of the farming solutions in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. This greenhouse was built to provide the locals with fresh food at a lower price, with more accessibility.
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This is an image of Tim Myers, who owns the only farm in the region of nutrient-rich soil, of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Myers is pictured standing in the rows of his,17 acre, permafrost farm located in Bethel, Alaska.
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Permafrost Farming
Sounds funny, right? Using frozen soil to farm, though, in recent times, this solution in becoming much more popular. It might take a bit to get going, but permafrost farming in a very effective way to farm. It takes around two years to thaw a patch of permafrost. The process involves clearing the tundra, allowing the soil to thaw, which takes the majority of the two years, tilling the tundra plants back into the soil with a slurry of salmon and building the garden beds. Raised garden beds and long tunnels help to build strong root systems and increase the growing and harvest season when permafrost farming. Farms in the permafrost use the moisture which is already in the ground to help water the crops, drip irrigation and manual watering also. With the high tunnels, a month can be added to each end of the growing season, making it last from April to October. The farm that Tim Myers owns provides all the fresh produce for the town of Bethel. If a 17 acre farm can feed a town of 600 residents, imagine what a hundred acre farm could achieve. Even if there were three 17 acre farms in an area, 1800 people could be locally and sustainably fed without the current food import rate of 95%. |
Reindeer Herding and Farming
This is already existent in the tundra, but many farms are individually owned or only on small scale. Reindeer are the perfect animal to farm in the tundra environment, as they're already adapted to it. They are much easier to breed and care for within this reason. Trying to farm a foreign animal, like poetry or cattle, is like trying to farm sheep in the ocean. It's impractical, improbable, and quite possibly, impossible. Herding and farming reindeer for either milk or meat in the tundra is actually a very sustainable practice. As long as farms don't produced toxic waste from using chemicals on their land, and the livestock is fed naturally, theres; no bi-waste. Reindeer are inexpensive and practical to farm as they will roam and graze on their own as long as sufficient food is available. Sexual maturity of a doe (female reindeer) is reached at about two years and the average weight of a male is 50kg. The only possible downside to such farms is the last of reproduction. Many doe only have one, rarely two, offspring. |
This image shows a reindeer herder in the Alaskan high-planes with a herd of reindeer.
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Above pictured is an image of an inland, extensive fish farm in New Zealand. Fish farms in the tundra look a little different ti this, but the theory is the same.
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Extensive Fish Farms
Aquaculture is in relative measures around the tundra at the moment. Extensive fish farming is the most practical and most sustainable method. Following extensive, is semi-intensive, the intensive fish farming. Extensive fish farming is done in the ocean, man-made and natural lakes and rivers. The fish grown in farms like this are raised without pesticides, fertilisers or farmer feeding. Extensive farming methods tend to get crowded. Fish chosen to be bred in such conditions are species that cope well, carp, salmon and trout are all able to be successfully farmed using this method. In the tundra, arctic trout and salmon are both commonly found, so why isn't this being utilised? Extensive fish farms, either off, or on-shore farms could generate a systematic and constant supply of food in the area. Food security could be improved whilst also allowing a steady export of foods to other countries creating a constant income source for the tundra. |