UNHIDE Agroforestry booklet 2025.09.22 - Flipbook - Page 48
Nature Gift cranberry farm: Alley-cropping, Latvia
NATURE GIFT cranberry farm 31 miles north of
Riga is established on a pristine peat bog. Andris
Špats, who founded and runs the farm, explains
that the protection provided by the pine and birch
trees in the alley shaped cranberry system mitigates
spring frosts, which otherwise risk damaging the
flower buds. The trees also contribute to cooler
surface and air temperatures during the hot season:
the berries need cool summers and cold winters in
wetlands with acidic and nutrient-poor soil, in order
to absorb important nutrients and develop flavour
and colour.
Latvia boasts a diverse range of peatlands, including fens, transition mires and bogs, covering about
10% of the country’s territory. A considerable part
of these peatlands are influenced by human activities, such as peat extraction, forest planting and
land reclamation, requiring drainage that affects the
hydrological regime and leads to habitat loss pristine bogs and wetlands are critical habitat for
many species and one of Latvia’s natural treasures.
The Baltic countries have a long history of peat
Sid
21-22 cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon).
American
extraction and large areas have been exploited,
mostly during and after the Soviet era 1940-1991.
Many of these peat extraction fields have since
then been drained and converted to agricultural
land.
In the 1980s, commercial cranberry cultivation on
former peatlands became popular in Latvia, and
have since been advocated as an alternative restoration strategy, especially when the possibility
of hydrological restoration is considered difficult,
due to surrounding cover ditched and drained
agricultural land, or when it is considered to be
too expensive.
While some traditional cranberry farming practices involve flooding for harvesting, Latvian cranberry cultivation often does not, and drainage systems designed to ensure an average groundwater
level of 0.5 meters, preventing waterlogging and
root rot, are required. Irrigation systems are often
used to supplement rainfall, for adequate moisture.
