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return to Farmers
Independent Weekly
November
14, 2002
By Jane Froese, Department of Plant Science |
Soviet
Canuckistan: Was Pat Buchanan Right?
Pat Buchanan's
recent comments characterizing "our home and native land"
as "Soviet Canuckistan" ruffled more than a few
of our "true north, strong and free" feathers. Yet
his comments, however sensational, may have an element of
truth to them. But not (unfortunately for an unwitting Mr.
Buchanan) in the sense that he intended.
It is
within the realm of natural resources that Canada may be referred
to as Soviet Canuckistan. (Or, alternatively, that Russia
may be tagged "The Great White North-ern Comrade".)
While Russia and Canada occupy vast territories as the largest
and second largest countries in the world, respectively, there
are regions within both countries that are remarkably similar
with respect to the natural resources available for primary
agricultural production.
Take,
for example, SW Siberia and the central Canadian prairies.
But first, a qualifying note. For some, the very word "Siberia"
conjures up images of a barren wasteland, frozen tundra or
Soviet gulag. Technically, however, Siberia is that immense
expanse of land that extends from the Ural Mountains through
eight time zones to the Pacific Ocean. SW Siberia actually
includes prairie or steppe regions that closely resemble our
own Canadian prairies.
Figures
1 and 2 illustrate the climatic similarities of a region within
the Canadian prairies (near North Battleford) and a region
within the SW Siberian steppes (near the city of Omsk). The
temperature and precipitation regimes are clearly analogous
to each other. In addition, both regions share similar soils
(rich chernozems) and photoperiod (latitudes between 52.5
and 55.0oN). How interesting that these two regions, which
sit on exactly opposite sides of the globe, have similar physical
conditions for primary agricultural production!
But many
of us already knew that. Or at least our predecessors did.
For example, a significant number people from Ukraine and
Russia who immigrated to Manitoba in the late 19th century
were struck and perhaps also comforted by the familiar landscape.
Several of our early wheat varieties (e.g., Odessa, White
Russian) were brought over from "the old country".
These varieties were proven performers on the Ukrainian and
Russian steppes and were well-adapted to the analogous zone
on the Canadian prairies.
But what
does this similarity of physical conditions for primary agricultural
production mean for us today? Cooperation between Canadian
and Russian scientists located in zones of similar climate,
soils and latitude facilitates more effective progress towards
the solution of similar problems. For example, because of
dry growing seasons, malt for a major brewery in Omsk has
traditionally been imported from Germany. In addition to their
own malting barley breeding program, scientists in Omsk are
now examining the suitability of malting barley varieties
from the Canadian prairies where conditions are similar to
theirs. So, instead of taking 10 years to develop new malting
barley varieties from scratch, perhaps proven varieties from
the Canadian analogous zone are well-adapted to production
in SW Siberia.
Is Russia
the only beneficiary of cooperation between scientists in
analogous zones? Certainly not! There are examples of Russian
advances in agricultural science that have been adapted in
Canada. For example, the Canadian System of Soil Classification
is based on the original Russian system. Terms like "chernozem"
(meaning "black earth"), podzol and solonetz are
all of Russian origin. As for present benefits, scientific
collaboration addressing our common pests such as weeds, insects
and disease and common crop variety development has tremendous
potential. Recently, I was part of a study that examined Canadian
canola cultivars grown in SW Siberia. We found the performance
of Canadian canola cultivars to be at least as good in SW
Siberia as in the analogous zone in central SK. This study
has been extended to evaluate SW Siberian canola-quality rapeseed
varieties in central SK.
And so,
while we may resent being called "Soviet Canuckistan",
we might agree with Pat Buchanan's characterization if taken
in the apolitical sense. Given the similarities in Canada
and Russia of the natural resources for primary agricultural
production, we would do well to work cooperatively for mutual
benefit.
If you
have any feedback on the above article, please contact jane_froese@umanitoba.ca.
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