A high tunnel environment was evaluated for production of leaf (`Two Star') and romaine (`Parris Island Cos') lettuce (Lactuca sativa) in a northern location (lat. 64°49'N). Ten plantings were made 1 week apart from May to August. Averaged over the season, the air temperature was 1.5 °C and the soil 0.8 °C higher in the high tunnel than the field. `Two Star' planted on 3 Aug. and harvested on 16 Sept. produced higher yield (P < 0.001) in the tunnel. Head weight was 195 ± 12 g in the tunnel and 99 ± 8 g in the field. For the 13 July-planted `Two Star' lettuce, the field produced significantly (P < 0.001) more at 202 ± 21 g/head than the 135 ± 29 g/head in the tunnel. The three consecutive field plantings of 1, 8, and 15 June resulted in higher `Parris Island Cos' yields than corresponding plantings in the high tunnel. Head weights for harvests on 11, 18, and 25 July were 457 ± 60, 476 ± 65, and 478 ± 25 g under field conditions and 354 ± 46, 331 ± 52, and 312 ± 14 g in the high tunnel. `Two Star' was observed less prone to bolting than `Parris Island Cos'. Although a high tunnel did not generally support increased productivity in this study, the added protection resulted in high quality lettuce with limited necessary preparation and marketing loss in comparison to the field-grown lettuce.

ABSTRACT. Alaska is food insecure, importing the vast majority of its agricultural products and commodities and maintaining a minimal year-round food supply. Much of the circumpolar North, with some notable exceptions, is also food insecure and similarly reliant on foods imported from outside regions. The stark differences in food policies, food security, and overall production that exist between individual countries and regions of the circumpolar North are likely due to variability in their physical and social environments, their varying agrarian histories (e.g., Old World vs. New World), and their different first-hand experiences with food insecurity, often during wartime. Alaska's agricultural history is unique, having progressed through periods of exploration and expansion and having experienced both success and failure. Agriculture exists today in Alaska as an underdeveloped natural resource -based industry that has been shaped by historical events and developmental processes and continually influenced by a host of environmental and socioeconomic factors. Continued interaction between stakeholders, agencies, and others will help the industry to progress to the point of meeting increasing food demands and improving food security.

ABSTRACT. Local agriculture, food security and food supply are limited in Alaska, as well as in much of the circumpolar North. These limitations stem from a suite of challenges that have never been well characterized, categorized, or wholly defined. We identify these challenges as being environmental, geophysical, biological, or socioeconomic in nature, noting that some challenges are interrelated. Additionally, Alaska is expansive, and growing conditions are highly variable across different regions and microclimates of the state. Environmental challenges to Alaskan agriculture are generally linked to high latitude and include strong seasonality, a short growing season, cold temperatures, and unpredictable frosts. Geophysical challenges are characterized by a high percentage of soils that are wet and cold or low in natural fertility. Biological challenges include cultivar adaptability and selection; the control of various pests, weeds, and diseases; and decreased microbial activity in cold soils, which can allow pesticides to linger and slow mineralization of organic fertilizers. Socioeconomic challenges to farming in Alaska are especially limiting and may categorically represent the strongest hindrances to agriculture. They often overlap or interact with many of the identified agro-ecological and biogeographic challenges. Major socioeconomic issues can be a relatively low financial incentive or reward for farmers; inconsistent or limited markets; the high cost of land, infrastructure, and inputs; zoning challenges; a lack of cooperatives; and for rural farmers, time conflicts with more traditional means of subsistence food acquisition. These challenges collectively represent factors that limit agriculture in Alaska, and they provide a basis and justification for developing more sustainable solutions.Key words: agriculture, Alaska, challenges, climate, circumpolar, farming, soils, subarctic, sustainable, socioeconomic RÉSUMÉ. En Alaska, l'agriculture locale, la sécurité alimentaire et les approvisionnements en vivres sont limités. C'est également le cas d'une grande partie du Nord circumpolaire. Ces limitations découlent d'un ensemble de défis qui n'ont jamais été bien caractérisés, catégorisés ou entièrement définis. Nous estimons que ces défis sont d'ordre environnemental, géophysique, biologique ou socioéconomique, et que certains des défis sont interreliés. De plus, l'Alaska est d'une grande étendue, et les conditions de croissance varient énormément d'une région à l'autre et d'un microclimat à l'autre de l'État. De manière générale, les défis environnementaux inhérents à l'agriculture alaskienne ont trait à la haute latitude, ce qui comprend une importante saisonnalité, une courte saison de croissance, des températures froides et des gelées imprévisibles. Pour leur part, les défis géophysiques sont caractérisés par un fort pourcentage de sols humides et froids, ou encore, de sols dont la fertilité naturelle est faible, puis les défis d'ordre biologique ont trait à l'adaptabilité et à la sélection des cultiv...

ABSTRACT. Agriculture is a severely underdeveloped industry in Alaska and throughout most of the Subarctic. Growers and entrepreneurs must overcome a diverse set of challenges to achieve greater sustainability in northern communities where resilience is threatened by food insecurity and challenges to northern agriculture have limited the industry. However, several field-based or social policy solutions to problems of high-latitude agriculture have been proposed or are being put into practice. Field-based solutions include the use of special infrastructure or farm management strategies to extend the short growing season, improve soil quality, integrate appropriate pest and irrigation management practices, and further develop the livestock sector. Social and policy solutions are resolutions or decisions reached by stakeholders and government, often through cooperative interaction and discussion. These solutions stem from meaningful discussion and decision making among community members, organizations, agencies, and legislators. Social and policy solutions for Alaska include addressing the high costs of land and the preservation of agricultural lands; improved markets and market strategies; more appropriate funding for research, education and infrastructure; and other integrative or cooperative efforts. Collectively, these solutions will work to improve the outlook for sustainable agriculture in Alaska.

Two snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars, `Provider' and `Concesa', were planted successionally in a high tunnel in Fairbanks, Alaska (64°49'N and 147°52'W), from late May to late July. For the entire growing season, air/soil temperatures averaged 1.7 °C/1.1 °C higher in the tunnel than the field. The temperature differential was, however, largely dependent on amount of high tunnel ventilation. With tunnel ends not yet erected in May, the air temperature difference averaged 0.5 °C while in September the difference was 2.5 °C in the enclosed tunnel. On average, both cultivars flowered 4 days earlier in the tunnel compared to the contiguous open field. `Provider' had high overall yields with no significant difference between the tunnel and the field, although the tunnel did offer protection from an early frost. `Provider' produced an average of 3454 g·m-2 in the tunnel and 2860 g·m-2 in the field. Average yields of `Concesa' inside the tunnel were significantly greater (P < 0.01), with 1719 g·m-2 compared to 756 g·m-2 in the open field. `Provider' pods were larger in diameter and more fibrous than `Concesa' pods, which we concluded were of improved quality with higher soluble solids content (°Brix refractometer readings). High tunnels could be an important way to provide an advantageous production environment for high quality cultivars without sacrificing the reliability of cold-tolerant cultivars. To consistently produce high quality snap beans to meet local Alaska fresh market demands, cultivars suited for high tunnel production need to be identified.