Greenhouse Agriculture in the Icelandic Food System

Abstract

Greenhouses are a frequent feature on the Icelandic rural landscape and an integral part of Iceland's food system. Iceland's reserves of geothermal energy present an opportunity to extend an otherwise short growing season. This promotes sustainability, increases food security, and benefits consumers. This article examines the relative strengths of Iceland's greenhouse sectorusing a combination of statistics, observations, and interviews to understand the resource demands of greenhouse agriculture, how well greenhouses can allay some food insecurity and provide local foods. It ends with an examination of how the reduction of subsidies used to keep greenhouse agriculture going, has had an effect and forces the question of whether losing much of Iceland's agricultural sector and locally sourced food is worth the social and political costs.

Farmers’ Perspective on Agriculture and Environmental Change in the Circumpolar North of Europe and America

“…In this survey, meat farmers on the Atlantic islands did not rely on greenhouses. Greenhouse production of fruits and vegetables, however, is a common feature of local agriculture in Iceland in particular [35] due to the availability of geothermal energy.…”

Canadian Greenhouse Operations and Their Potential to Enhance Domestic Food Security

“…In 2017, an F. oxysporum fungal outbreak infected pepper greenhouses in Essex County, Ontario, resulting in major plant loss; in a single example, one greenhouse operation experienced over 12% pepper mortality [35] (pp. [121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132]. One challenge with many crop pathogens is their largely undetectable presence at early stages of infection, allowing mitigation only after significant crop damage has occurred [36] (pp.…”

“…There are added challenges for more northern countries with harsher climates, such as Canada, to increase greenhouse vegetable production. Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Russia are looking to improve upon their existing greenhouse industries, which, like Canada, also commonly grow cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers [121][122][123][124]. In fact, the Russian cucumber market is already almost 100% supplied by domestic greenhouse production [125].…”

“…Research has also indicated the potential for heating greenhouses using manure-based biogas where it is expected that up to 11% of the Swiss tomato demand could be supplied domestically in this manner [127]. Icelandic greenhouse operations have been reported to harness geothermal heat to extend their growing season [123].…”

“…With remotely controlled climate control systems becoming more common in industrial greenhouse operations, advancements in AI, machine learning, and robotics have been identified as critical in order to meet sustainability goals, overcome labour shortages and pest challenges, and increase revenues [122,126]. Iceland's computerized geothermal climate control systems supporting automated hydroponic and soilless greenhouses have been successful, though they still depend on government funding and tariffs to compete economically with imported vegetables [123].…”