It is generally accepted in British Columbia that Canada Land Inventory Class 1 to 4 lands are arable, yet in many instances commercial farms exist on lands of lower capability.
A case study was done for an area (1.6 km * 2.9 km) southeast of Nanaimo, B.C. to determine if Canada Land Inventory Class 4 and 5 soils are biophysically suitable for Pyrus (pear) and Mai us (apple) orchards, and if such a development would be socioeconomically feasible. The critical biophysical
conditions governing orchard development identified were climate (freeze free period, effective growing degree days, dormancy period and minimum
winter temperature); soils (depth, drainage, texture/% coarse fragment content and topography); and groundwater availability for irrigation. The critical economic conditions were land tenure (Tree Farms and parcel size); current land use; and fruit yields and prices. While all biophysical conditions
were favourable to apple orchards, the soils were found to be too coarse textured for pear orchards.
Maps outlining the critical biophysical and socioeconomic conditions were prepared and overlayed. The composite map identified one area with realistic development potential for apple orchards. Although soils, land tenure, parcel size and current land use decreased the area available for orchards, the lack of groundwater for irrigation was found to be the most limiting factor to orchard development. Estimates of costs and returns for a 3.3 ha apple orchard over a 25 year period were done. Using these estimates, the net present value of the orchard was determined for three discount rates: 5%, 8% and 10%; and for five prices per kilogram: $0.15, $0.22, $0.33, $0.44 and $0.66. At prices of $0.15, $0.22, $0.33 and $0.44 (at discount rates of 10% and 8%), orchard establishment was not feasible. However, at prices of $0.44 (and discount rate of 5%) and $0.66, orchard establishment was feasible. / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/25067 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Williams, Heather Lorraine |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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