News Vegetables
Canada releases new greenhouse lettuce crop profile

A newly updated crop profile for Greenhouse Lettuce is now available to download for free from the Government of Canada Publications web site or through the Crop profiles webpage.

National crop profiles are developed by the Pest Management Program of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). The crop profiles provide baseline information on production and pest management practices and document growers’ needs to address pest management gaps and issues for specific crops grown in Canada. This information is developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders and data collected from reporting provinces. Reporting provinces are selected based on their acreage of the target crop (>10 % of the national production) and provide qualitative data on pest occurrence and integrated pest management practices used by growers in those provinces.

For greenhouse lettuce production, the reporting provinces are Ontario and Quebec. Information on pest issues and management practices is provided for information purposes only. For detailed information on growing greenhouse lettuce, the reader is referred to provincial crop production guides and provincial ministry websites listed in the Resources Section at the end of the profile. For guidance about crop protection products registered for pests on greenhouse lettuce, the reader is referred to provincial crop production guides and Health Canada’s Pesticide label database.

“Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is a member of the Asteraceae family. Lettuce was cultivated as early as 4500 BC, in the Mediterranean region, for oil extracted from the seeds. Since then, production of the annual plant has spread worldwide. Today, lettuce is grown almost exclusively for the fresh market. It is used in salads, sandwiches and as a garnish. Lettuce can be split into two main groups: head lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata) which includes iceberg, crisphead and butterhead lettuce and leaf lettuce (L. sativa var. longifolia and L. sativa var. crispa) which includes romaine, greenleaf, and redleaf lettuce. Only butterhead lettuce, also known as ‘Boston’ or ‘Bibb’ lettuce (L. sativa var. capitata), is grown in greenhouses; ‘Prior’ and ‘Cortina’ are the most common cultivars. The primary product of greenhouse lettuce is the leaf which is produced in heads and is used mainly for salads. Pre-washed and pre-cut packaged salad mixes have become popular with consumers.”

Earlier this month, AAFC released the 2020 crop profile for greenhouse tomatoes.