Sales in the greenhouse vegetable and fruit sector were up 9.3 per cent to top $2 billion, reports Statistics Canada in its first reporting of the 2021 landscape.
This increase in sales is mainly attributed to higher production of peppers (+16.1%) and tomatoes (+8.5%). Sales of cucumbers also increased by 12 per cent despite a decline in production.
Greenhouse operations supply more than domestic markets. In 2021, total exports of greenhouse tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers reached 489.9 million kg – an increase of 12.3 per cent over 2020.
Sales of greenhouse strawberries, only recently introduced to North American greenhouses, increased 19.1 per cent to $18.5 million in 2021 due to higher prices (+11.4%) and production (+6.9%). Ontario is the largest producer of greenhouse strawberries with a total of 2.2 million kilograms produced in 2021.
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Source: Statistics Canada April 26, 2022 news release