Science and Technology for Canadians

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NARRATOR:

Where would the world be without potatoes?
Or peppers.
Tomatoes and corn.
Peanuts.
What about spaghetti sauce?
Or chips?

This is the legacy of generations of Native plant breeders.

NARRATOR:

Jeff Beaver is preserving the work of his ancestors. In a plot behind his house he grows pure strains of traditional Native corn varieties.

He covers corn tassels and silk to make sure no accidental cross-pollination takes place. His garden is a living seed bank.

JEFF BEAVER:

Seeds don't last forever, especially corn seeds. So, about every five years you've got to kind of replant and re-establish your seed bank, because the seeds eventually do die.

NARRATOR:

Corn began in Mexico and Central America as a small, inedible wild grain. By the time of Columbus, 150 varieties had been developed.

JEFF BEAVER:

Super: Jeff Beaver, Alderville First Nation

Some of these families have kept these seeds, individual corn seeds going for thousands of years. So, our goal is to always make sure that they have seed.

NARRATOR:

Corn, beans and squash. The three sisters of Native agriculture. Corn supports beanstalks. Beans supply nitrogen to the corn roots. Squash shades the soil.

NARRATOR:

These old ideas are getting new life. In Prince Edward Island, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is getting high yields using less chemicals by planting wheat and red clover together. Red clover takes nitrogen from the air. As it decomposes the clover makes nitrogen available for the next crop. It also competes against weeds.

YOUSEF PAPADOPOULOS:

There is a tremendous benefit to the environment. By providing ground cover we are not losing our precious resources in the soil.

Also, the nutrient provided is recyclable. It is from air to soil to crop back to air.

YOUSEF PAPADOPOULOS:

Super: Yousef Papadopoulos, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

So all in all I think it's all beneficial. From reducing production costs, increasing profit and less harmful to the environment.

NARRATOR:

The clover can also provide a second harvest of high quality cattle feed.

NARRATOR:

Native agriculture didn't use a plough. Only a small amount of soil was turned for planting.

This is another idea whose time has come again.

Near Harrow, Ontario, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researchers are studying the economic and environmental costs of different ways of tilling the soil.

From full ploughing to no till and everything in between.

NARRATOR:

The method that is giving the best results is fall zone tillage – just turning over a narrow strip of soil right where the seeds will be planted the following spring.

CRAIG DRURY:

In terms of fuel consumption, we've seen that a tillage system like the zone till has 70% lower fuel usage than the conventional till.

CRAIG DRURY:

Super: Craig Drury, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Here we have a conventional tillage treatment. As you will see, there is very little wheat straw residue on it. It's very susceptible to water erosion and it has very poor soil quality.

CRAIG DRURY:

Here we have our no-till treatment. As you can see there's a lot of surface residue on it and this soil has very good soil quality, good structure, lots of earthworms will live in it. It however has a problem with corn in the spring. The soils are wetter, they're cooler, we have lower emergence and the yields could be about 25 to 30 percent lower than the conventional tillage treatments.

CRAIG DRURY:

Here we have our zone till treatment. Just a very narrow zone is cultivated and it really has very good seed bed conditions during the spring for corn. The area in between is essentially no-till with a lot of residue and good soil structure. It has the best of both. And the yields are fairly comparable to that of the conventional tillage treatment.

AL HAMILL:

Super: Al Hamill, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

The other thing is that if you can keep the residue on the soil surface, any weed seeds that are underneath that residue tend not to germinate and tend not to grow. And while they're still there, if the soil is disturbed at a later date or a later time they will start to grow but by that time the crop has a head start and that's all it needs is a good head start in order to be able to compete better with the weeds that are there.

NARRATOR:

The researchers are also looking at the impact of different kinds of tillage on carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions.

Acrylic chambers are placed throughout the test plots. The chambers collect air above the soil for testing. The air is extracted from the cover to be analysed back at the lab.

Soil gives off carbon dioxide as plant matter decomposes. The more the soil is disturbed, the more carbon dioxide it gives off.

With reduced tillage, more carbon stays held in the soil as organic matter. This improves soil quality and significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

AL HAMILL:

I like to see a lot of residue or as much residue as possible left on the field and if I'm driving by or looking at a farm field and there's a fair amount of residue on the soil surface then it tells me that this farmer is keeping up with the times.

NARRATOR:

These fields belong to Taghahoning Enterprises, the largest on-reserve aboriginal farm in Ontario.

DON ISAAC:

Super: Don Isaac, vice president, Tahgahoning Enterprises

We decided that that was our life, really. Close to the land as we can get. And farming is one of the closest things you can do. You're working with the land.

NARRATOR:

Taghahoning Enterprises has been an enthusiastic adopter of conservation tillage.

Last year this field was planted in corn. Now the corn stalks shelter this year's crop of soybeans.

It's a new version of methods that have kept this land productive for thousands of years, and will continue to keep it healthy for future generations.

DON ISAAC:

Well I think my ancestors would be very happy with what they see today. And see us the way we live today and the technology we have here.

I think they'd be amazed with seeing so much corn, even the soybeans. The squash and everything else is there and corn, beans and squash have been the main staples for Indians for years, and so I think they would be happy.