The amount of land dedicated to growing vegetables continues to drop, with the latest figures from Statistics Canada showing a near 4 percent reduction in crop area last year compared to 2013 levels.
The figures are part of a larger trend that has seen Canada lose nearly 34,255 hectares of vegetable-growing land since 2001. The growth in the area dedicated to fruit cultivation slowed in 2014 as well.
On an annual basis, the area Canada dedicated to tomato production in 2014 fell 32.5 percent, following the closure of the Heinz plant in Leamington, Ont. However, area dedicated to growing cucumbers and gherkins, green onions and shallots, and Chinese cabbage all increased. In 2014, Ontario accounted for nearly half (43.7 percent) of vegetable production, while Quebec comprised 37.3 percent.
Previous figures from Statistics Canada have shown that from 1971 to 2011, overall farming area has declined from 68.7 million hectares to 64.8 million hectares. The number of farmers has also seen a reduction of 25 percent from 1991 to 2011, to average 390,875 in 2011.
