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When you think of agricultural hotspots globally, you might picture the US, or South East Asia, Brazil, or China.
You probably wouldn't think of somewhere like this.
ERLEND:
The view here is quite spectacular. There's a fjord here. We see the sea.
This is Erlend Winje, station manager of the Norwegian Institute for Bio-Economy Research, or NIBIO, an institute tucked away in the Arctic Circle on the edge of the Norwegian town of Tromso.
ERLEND:
Now we are starting the growing season and the fields are starting to green, but as you can see you have the mountains, still white of snow. And we start having plants out and putting seeds into the ground.
Erlend is one of a band of about 35 researchers working here, supporting primary producers to expand food production in the world's northernmost reaches.
ERLEND:
What we are doing up here is arctic agricultural research, doing agriculture up here north of the polar circle is quite special.
And not just because of the tight growing seasons, long stretches of darkness, or extreme cold.
But also because climate change in the Arctic has been warming up to four times faster than the global average, thanks to once reflective ice now melting, and because atmospheric and ocean mixing traps more heat in the polar circle.
For Erlend, a warmer Arctic means many new opportunities for farming in places like this, with potential to pick up the slack as other parts of the world swelter or dry up.
ERLEND:
We still have the rain. We have enough water. And you know, if the climate change and we get higher temperatures, in many ways we are on a more safe spot. We can still produce, even produce better and to quite a good quality. So we got a responsibility to utilize that.
Over the past decade, a handful of influential reports have described these new opportunities for agriculture in the Arctic.
But those same studies are also filled with warnings about how a burst in agriculture could damage the environment, disrupt traditional ways of life, take up valuable accessible land, or even accelerate climate change if new practices aren't carefully managed.
And with increased global attention on who controls this rapidly warming land, the tensions aren't just scientific.
So, as the Arctic warms faster than anywhere else, can the far north become a new frontier for sustainable food production? At what cost?
Today on DW's Living Planet, join us for a tour of the northernmost research facility of its kind for a glimpse into the future of agriculture in the Arctic.
The Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research in Tromso was once a farm.
It sits on the edge of a sound, right near the city's airport.
As Erlend Winje walks through the thawing fields, he says despite the obvious challenges, there's a long history of primary production in this part of the world.
ERLEND:
The farmers up here, traditionally they were combined farmers and fishermen. That's how they survived.
Erlend himself lived with his grandfather who was one of these typical fishing farmers and helped on his dairy farm.
He looks like many of those who grew up here, fit and suited for the cold, someone who spends lots of time on the snow, even in his 60s.
ERLEND:
We have enough water, it's green and it's fertile. I hunt as well, and hunting in the north is just wonderful.
ERLEND:
It's so special both geographically and climatically. If you really want to see Norway you have to go to the western part or the northern part.
There's still plenty of snow across Tromso in late May, despite the constant sunshine, even through the middle of the night.
And farmers are racing to get crops sown, ready to harvest before the earliest frosts in September.
But Erlend points out that even with their best efforts, Norway has never been able to grow enough with such tight windows.
ERLEND:
Norway is only 40% self-sufficient of the food we need. We are producing mostly forage so we are doing dairy production and some meat production. Then we are also doing some vegetables and some berries. And up north we are even less self-sufficient.
NIBIO focuses on giving up-to-date information and advice to primary producers in the region.
Everything from maps to optimised growing plans for cultivars or varieties, to help them produce more.
And the stakes are high when it comes to getting Arctic agriculture right as conditions rapidly change.
Not just for countries like Norway to provide for themselves, but to start chipping in for other nations.
A landmark study by international researchers in the journal Nature, published in 2025, shows that even with significant adaptation in agricultural practices, global crop yields of staple foods will fall by as much as 24% by the year 2100.
But the impacts are incredibly varied in different parts of the world.
Many regions closer to the equator will see the biggest losses, and regions closer to the poles are predicted to generally grow much more.
So, for Erlend, NIBIO's mandate is to essentially be the tip of the spear in this transition.
To support a new wave of agriculture, to help bolster global food supplies.
And, how exactly?
ERLEND:
First and foremost we have the fields. It's the most important part of our infrastructure.
There are also specialised greenhouses and a barn.
ERLEND:
We have this plastic tunnel we are doing research on the raspberry and strawberry.
And even patches of forest too.
ERLEND:
And then we have this climate laboratory.
It's quite special about this station, is the variety of subjects we are covering. It's not just the traditional agriculture but we are into climate research in general, especially connected to our rate of production, what can we produce what can we not? And can we adapt it?
And to see exactly how they're doing that, Erlend introduces us to a couple of other researchers here, starting outside the laboratories.
SIGRIDUR:
My name is Sigridur Dalmannsdottir and I work here at our institute, mainly on grasses and also based on cereals and then also on climate change.
Our research is very much connected to the climate because the climate is changing faster now than before. And in the Arctic, it's where it's changing the fastest.
Sigridur Dalmannsdottir is from Iceland, another northern country hoping to expand its agricultural sector.
But NIBIO is the northernmost research institute of its kind, making it an ideal site to test the shifting limits of agriculture.
SIGRIDUR DALMANNSDOTTIR
We are here in the Arctic, quite far north, almost 70 degrees latitude.
And being so far north lets her examine the impacts of changing temperatures as they intersect with the uniquely short summers here.
SIGRIDUR:
The light conditions here in the north are completely different to those in the south. So the combination of temperature and light, it's very important in our research.
She says it's this complication of short but intense periods of light that makes Arctic agriculture much more complex to study.
SIGRIDUR:
For Norway, which is a very long country, the cultivars you have to use are completely different here in the north compared to the south. And it's not that easy that when it gets warmer here, that you can just move and use the southern cultivars up here because the completely different light conditions mean they have to be bred for these conditions.
Much of this work to understand which varieties are going to be able to work here under new conditions happens in a specialised greenhouse high at the top of the research site.
SIGRIDUR:
I think it's the best view I have seen from any lab facility. I mean, we have the sea. And on the other side of the sea, we have one of the biggest islands in Norway called Kale. It's almost like in a postcard.
From the entrance hallway, we step into NIBIO's greenhouse complex—hot and humid and bright.
It's filled with vegetables, fruits, cereal crops, and different grasses.
But Sigridur says this isn't just any greenhouse.
SIGRIDUR:
Yeah, we have here the northern-most Phytotron in the world. Phytotron because it's a special type of climate laboratory where we can grow plants under specific temperatures and conditions.
The phytotron's precision controls for environmental variables lets her test the impacts of minutely different conditions using isolated rooms.
SIGRIDUR:
So then we have different chambers. So we can go in here and just have a look.
And the design still allows the Arctic's natural light to filter through the clear roof.
SIGRIDUR:
Because our research is focused on how plants survive the natural light conditions and this climate situation we have here in the north.
This allows NIBIO's researchers to test plants and new varieties under exact conditions predicted later this century in the Arctic circle—the precise controls let them speed up testing cycles in different conditions.
SIGRIDUR:
So we can see we have different grasses. This week we had a freezing tolerance test on these grasses.
And these rooms don't just allow her to understand the natural limits of plants already growing in the north.
SIGRIDUR:
Here, we do a lot of what we could call pre-breeding research. That is research on how the plants behave, the physiological differences. How they respond to the climate. And then we have one breeding company in Norway, and they go further with the breeding itself. And then, we have fields also here outside, which we are testing the new varieties.
As we leave the phytotron to meet another of the researchers here, Sigridur says this might seem like basic work, but it's vital applied science, tied directly to the needs of Arctic primary producers.
And she says it's crucial to have up to date information here because of how quickly conditions are changing.
SIGRIDUR:
The season is getting longer now. For example, yesterday we were seeding the oat trial and that was one week earlier than last year, and we are always making records and temperature from year to year. So we really feel that the climate is changing actually.
And she feels that same urgency Erlend mentioned to help farmers make use of this boon.
SIGRIDUR:
That will be important because a big part of the world in more southern areas and around the equator is having big problems now because of climate change. So we have to be able to grow even more food in the future here in the north. We have about 6% possible arable land, but we are using 3% today. So this work is now going on, making maps where it is possible to grow.
One of Sigridur and Erlend's colleagues, research scientist Jorgen Molmann, also studies the impacts of light on plants.
But he's exploring how the right lighting can turbo-charge vegetable and potato farms.
JORGEN MOLMANN:
Looking at here above the Arctic Circle where we have midnight sun in the summer and 24 hour light conditions, that gives us, in a way, the best light conditions for plant growth in midsummer on the planet.
But Jorgen points out not all of that light is the same—in fact, it's often redder.
JORGEN:
We have several hours where there's relatively low solar elevation. When the solar elevation is low, it has a longer atmospheric path to pass through. So that filters away a lot of the blue light. So the spectral distribution is shifted towards red and far-red light.
Part of his work is understanding the effects of different light on crop morphology, quality and yield.
JORGEN:
Together with temperature that can give effects for color intensity, for instance, in broccoli. And we get more green broccoli when we produce here.
But he's also using this to explore how farmers can trick their plants into growing more rapidly.
JORGEN:
Spring is fairly late here. So we often don't get the potato in the ground until June, and then have to harvest before mid-September.
But one strategy with farmers here is pre-sprouting potatoes before they put them in the ground. And what they do then is put them at medium temperatures to get the sprouts going and use lights to inhibit the length of sprouts. So when they set the potatoes they have short, robust sprouts which are ready to grow. One of the things I'm looking at is how light quality affects this sprout growth inhibition and trying different light qualities.
So in a special corner of the phytotron, Jorgen Molmann mimics their setups, testing new combinations of temperature and light wavelengths.
And he's been able to show that tiny changes can better prepare potatoes to grow faster.
He opens a set of double doors leading into a dark room shielded from sunlight, but glowing under eerie red LEDs.
JORGEN:
So we are doing experiments here at the Phytotron, where we have selected special wavelengths, spectra. And we've seen that some varieties respond better than others, and the emergence from the soil is even more rapid if we give them certain wavelengths.
So we can see here in some of these varieties that emergence is up to one week earlier.
So with the right nudge from the right lights, farmers could pinch an extra week, which can make a big difference in quality and yield here.
Or they could adapt their sprouting techniques to match changing climate conditions from year to year.
After the tour of the climate laboratories and greenhouses, Erlend Winje's still waiting out on NIBIO's defrosting fields.
He says Norway's push to improve food production—to get to self-sufficiency or beyond—isn't just a scientific project.
He says it's also deeply political here, and tied to recent global tensions.
ERLEND:
If something happens, to get food up here is not that easy. The roads can be blocked and what do you do?
He says this idea of self-sufficiency is also a part of the ethos of Norwegians.
A recent dystopian Science Fiction series called The Fortress even depicts a vision of the future where the country has permanently closed itself off from the rest of the world, achieving this goal.
ERLEND:
This imbalance of what we need and what we produce ourself has got our politicians and our government more and more worried. And of course the society as a whole, but what we see now is, there has been several episodes telling us, wow, it's important that we keep our own production. One of the things is now Russian war against Ukraine, the COVID episode. So it's politically been important that we can produce as much as we can up here.
But growing enough in rapidly changing Arctic conditions is no mean feat.
Especially given climate change won't just bring opportunities to this part of the world but also new challenges and costs, something we'll hear about after this short break on Living Planet on DW.
Climate change is predicted to advance up to four times faster in the Arctic than the rest of the world, opening up new opportunities for food production.
But researchers at Norway's Institute for Bioeconomy in Tromso know that a warmer climate will also bring many new challenges and costs, which they're also working to anticipate and navigate.
Some of station manager Erlend Winje's colleagues here focus on changing land use, some are looking at how livelihoods and other industries will be impacted by more agriculture, and some are looking at pests and diseases.
ANNE MUOLA:
My name is Anne Muola and I work as a researcher at NIBIO. I work with insect pests, and how we can protect crop plants from insect pests.
Anne Muola says farms throughout northern Norway are already seeing new pests emerging and sticking around for longer.
ANNE:
Climate change is likely to bring us new species, but it's also affecting the species we already have here because the weather is changing. The pests become more active earlier than what we are used to. But of course that can also bring new opportunities in terms of new insect predators and pollinators as well, and parasitoids.
Anne Muola works in the field, studying what's already changing, and also conducts trials and tests under controlled conditions here at NIBIO to try to predict future impacts.
But she says much of this is a scramble to fill in gaps while pests are already ravaging farms.
ANNE:
The starting point is of course to understand the biology and then a very important part of it is also to monitor when the pests are arriving. But the thing is now that most of the models, for instance, are based on data that is collected 20 years ago, 30 years ago. And already now there is a change.
One of the pests she's been tracking is the Cabbage Root Fly.
These have been damaging suede and turnip production in the north and have even been able to survive the long winter in the soil here, allowing them to emerge at the start of every season.
Another is the diamondback moth, which usually thrives in tropical conditions, but has also made its way north.
ANNE:
Today I actually put a trap, insect trap outside just to monitor when the cabbage root flies and diamondback moths are arriving to the area.
Data from these monitoring stations are uploaded to online networks like Norway's VIPS database, alerting farmers to new pests or conducive weather conditions in their area.
ANNE:
These web-based services for producers where they can follow the situation that when the weather conditions, for instance, reach the point that they can expect certain species to start its activity in the area.
She's also trialing new interventions, like protective fibre covers to limit the damage and spread of new pests, to hold back the tide.
But there are much bigger challenges to navigate if the Arctic is going to produce more food.
Even with warmer temperatures, suitable land will be a huge limiting factor.
Just 3 to 3.5% of Norway's land is currently used for agriculture, and NIBIO's station manager Erlend Winje points out most of it is scattered along thin strips of coastline, where ocean currents provide a little extra warmth.
ERLEND:
That's Norway, I guess. People are living close to the sea all the time following the fjord coastline. There's just a few meters above sea level they can grow things. It's too tough if you get further up.
And there are many competing interests for any of this land.
So, a cornerstone of the institute's work is to work with traditional and wilder agriculture in the region—to make use of the less hospitable corners of the country.
A big part of their work, and his main specialty, is protecting a vital industry uniquely suited to the wilder corners of Norway.
One that also represents more than just food production.
And one which is increasingly under threat.
To see what this part of Norway's food system looks like, we're driving with Erlend Winje away from the institute to the very edge of town.
ERLEND:
We are standing just 50 meters from them. They're not really stressed.
One of the most remarkable aspects of life in Tromso is that reindeer roam freely, across streets, into yards, and along the edge of the shoreline.
And down here it's starting to get green.
We're still within sight of town, near a main road, at a soccer pitch with patches of snow and grass.
But we're creeping through a patch of trees to see a small herd of reindeer, including four very cute calves.
ERLEND:
I would think about two or three weeks. Uh, yeah, they're cute.
Erlend's very comfortable around them because he spends lots of his time working closely with reindeer herders and Norway's indigenous Sámi people, as they move the vast herds of these semi-domesticated animals between grazing sites.
ERLEND:
The challenge of moving a herd, 500 to 2000 animals on the snow covered mountains is quite impressive. You can see the landscape. How, how easy is it to gather, you know, a thousand animals spread around. You have that time of year, you've got four, four or five hours of twilight, middle of day, that's it. The rest is very dark.
Norway's reindeer herders rely heavily on these creatures for food and incomes.
Reindeer meat is considered sustainable and well suited to the remote corners of the country.
But the practice also represents a deeper connection to culture and tradition.
Erlend joins the herders during seasonal migrations to understand their concerns and see what's changing along their routes as the north rapidly warms.
Although we couldn't meet them today, he describes what it's like on these expeditions.
ERLEND:
First of all, I would say it's something about the sound. They collect them into these big pens. They use lassos. And they're making the sun "Ah, ah" constantly, and they're talking to each other, especially the mother and the calf. You have the sound all the time, and when the reindeer walks, there's a click from this joint. Yeah. And a tendon click. And that's also, I think, I've always been fascinated of, it's typical reindeer. Then of course they are talking, you know, the Sámi language to each other. I don't understand that. When I'm working with them, it's very meaningful. There are owners taking care of the animals.
And this respect extends to how they manage these herds through some truly brutal conditions.
ERLEND:
Once they got a storm and the tent we were sleeping in, just the wind took it and we didn't have anything. You couldn't hide. And you can't herd them when it's a storm like that. And I remember one of them, he, the day after he had to go, searching for some animals, for miles, and I don't understand how he managed to do it. They extremely survive in that kind of nature, you know, they are so skilled.
But on these migrations, Erlend's been hearing that snowstorms, freezing conditions, and the wild predators that stalk these herds aren't the only problems herders now face.
Huge swathes of traditional grazing land have been lost.
And the parts that remain are under threat.
ERLEND:
Wind parks, for instance, get in conflict with the reindeer herders. They are using for their herds traditionally and for hundreds of years this land. And there's a lot of conflict now, how wind turbines impact their production and their way of living. And we are working a lot with that, trying to show the impact of it.
Oil and gas extraction, fisheries, tourism, and new agriculture are also creeping into more parts of the north.
And Erlend says they're adding more pressure onto herders, who are already having to deal with climate changes.
ERLEND:
The ice disappears too early, they can't move through the area. And another example is this change between freezing and thawing, makes this kind of ice cover. And the animals are not able to dig down in the winter time to get the feed. And that's been a much larger problem in the last years. So the reindeer herd really feel the climate change and the problems that go with it.
Alongside documenting these changes and amplifying the voices of herders, Erlend and his colleagues are also finding ways to integrate modern technology or contemporary science into the traditional practices of these groups, to help them adapt to the changes forced upon them.
And he says one area they've had success in so far is helping monitor predation.
ERLEND:
We're talking about wolverine, lynx and bear and golden eagle. And those four are protected. You can't just shoot them.
Erlend says that protection is important for the ecosystem, but complicated for herders and farmers.
Norway provides compensation if an animal has been killed.
ERLEND:
But then they have to have some evidence, you know, is this done by predators or something else.
Until recently, this has meant long treks out into the wilderness to confirm a kill.
Tags and GPS collars on reindeer have helped speed this up.
But Erlend's been working to find a better way of tracking herds.
And he's doing that alongside colleagues including Gabriela Wagner and Harald (Haga Lislegård), two more NIBIO researchers who are joining us in the field for a test flight.
GABRIELA WAGNER:
So the drones are the new toy on the street. At the moment we're mostly trying to film reindeer and recognize them with artificial intelligence. And so we're above 90% recognition now. But there are a lot of other uses. We can use them to find injured animals or dead animals.
She says automated drone technology is advancing quickly, alongside the new AI software she's developing and testing with drone pilot Harald to find reindeer.
So Gabriella Wagner believes there's huge potential for them to remotely monitor herds.
And she says drone footage could help document the herders' other problems.
GABRIELA:
The area that the reindeer use is vast, but is constantly reduced by development. So the area that's available is shrinking really, really fast to the point where, yeah, I think we've lost over 93% of the reindeer herding area since the 1900s, so my job at the moment is mostly to try to work out how we can make the most of the little that's left.
She reiterates that the herding community is concerned about land use changes, especially as they intersect with disruptions from climate change.
At a recent summit jointly organised by NIBIO, reindeer herders called for greater scrutiny and consultation, and more up-to-date research.
Drones are one way to document how traditional routes and pastures are being disrupted in real time, and to keep a close eye on new plays for land in the north.
GABRIELA:
The main thing is to make sure the herds have a voice with objective data.
The work we do comes from the herders when they ask us for help. And at the moment, the most important thing is to conserve the areas that they have and reduce the impact of new developments in the best way possible.
And the added benefit is that this approach helps maintain the complex ecosystem in the far north, rather than resorting to culling predators.
GABRIELA:
This is not just about protecting the herds and the herders, it's about protecting nature. It's not just about protecting those few kilos of reindeer meat we produce, it's about how we preserve the area that is so special.
As Gabriella and Harald head off, Erlend Winje is still milling around with the reindeer, watching the young calves dance around in the snow.
He believes food production, working with the land, can be an immense unifier.
Something he often experiences working with Norway's reindeer herders.
ERLEND:
Even though the culture is a bit different, we have the same background. You know, they are living and I used to live and I grew up on a farm and it's the same thinking and the same values.
And given the immense challenges ahead for global food supplies, he says we'll need to draw on that sense of unity, to work together across communities and countries.
ERLEND:
I see the possibilities. We are able to do more. But also I'm a bit worried in general about now what it leads to that some parts of the world don't have enough food.
So when it comes to feeding future populations in a rapidly changing world, he hopes research institutes like NIBIO, tucked away in Norway's Arctic Circle, will be able to help.
And that new farms in places like this will be thriving before the worst changes hit.
ERLEND:
This part of the world, it's still good possibilities to grow and we are able to plan. So I guess I just feel I'm very privileged really to do what I do. And then we're gonna see what's gonna happen in the future. But we are ready to produce more.