The path to a future with more sustainable agriculture practices may involve digital innovations but also lessons from Indigenous practices from long ago. 

In April 2023, BMO announced a $2 million donation to the University of Saskatchewan for critical research into regenerative and digital agriculture. This donation supports initiatives within the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, including the BMO Soil Analytical Laboratory. This soil analytical laboratory aims to alleviate a critical bottleneck in digital agriculture research and provide key analytical capabilities for research in regenerative agriculture. The new laboratory will:   

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  Expand capability to characterize soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, a cornerstone for quantifying regenerative agriculture impacts.   

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  Build high-throughput spectroscopic capability for rapid assessment of a range of soil properties, including plant-available nutrients.   

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  Facilitate rapid characterization of the soil and plant microbiome, an indicator of soil health and function.   

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  Enable data integration across multiple analytical platforms, building a soil database that can be mined to better understand the interactions between soil function and above-ground crop performance.   

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  Create world-leading training opportunities for students.   

While this research is groundbreaking, sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices are prevalent, and in fact some have been around for thousands of years. We can look to the Three Sisters ancestral Indigenous sustainable cropping system for lessons.  

The Three Sisters cropping system is a First Nations practice involving intercropping, or companion planting of corn, beans and squash (also known as The Three Sisters). In this practice, the three crops are grown next to each other for mutual benefit. Vertical growth, soil enrichment, and ground cover—each crop covering the other’s weakness. The Three Sisters system exemplifies environmental stewardship, a foundational component of everyday First Nations’ practices with the goal of protecting and preserving the environment while optimizing natural resource harvesting.   

“The Three Sisters system exemplifies environmental stewardship, a foundational component of everyday First Nations’ practices with the goal of protecting and preserving the environment while optimizing natural resource harvesting.” -- Candace Lee Lickers --

The crop system has a rich history. Historian Sarah Carter found that First Nations agriculture in Central and South America preceded the arrival of non-Indigenous settlers by roughly three millennia. Carter also notes that approximately 300 different food crops were “cultivated including corn, potatoes, sunflowers, tomatoes and squash” and further introduced to settlers during first European contact wherein today constitutes 60% of the world’s crops in agriculture. Consultant Leela Viswanathan wrote on the Indigenous Climate Hub that one of the First Nation’s crop systems that demonstrates sustainable agricultural intercropping is called the Three Sisters.  

Melissa Fifield, Head of the BMO Climate Institute, notes that the relationship between farming, agricultural business, and biodiversity is often overlooked when addressing climate change. The principal behind the Three Sisters cropping system reflects a worldview of reciprocity and relationality with the land. It invites today’s farmers to consider how integration of biodiversity can enhance soil health and resource efficiency through mutual support among species, that maintains the environment for generations to come.   

Academic scholars have described the symbiotic relationship among the Three Sisters crops, working together to support each other throughout the rotation process.  

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  Corn provides support for the beans,  

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  Beans provide nitrogen through nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria that live on the roots, replenishing the soil with nutrients, and  

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  Squash (or pumpkins) provide ground cover that suppresses weeds and inhibit water evaporation from the soil.  

George Kuepper, NCAT Agricultural Specialist  observes that the Three Sisters  is an “ancient style of companion planting [that] has played a key role in the survival of all people in North America.”  

The relationship between the Three Sisters crops exemplifies environmental stewardship and is a key component to First Nations sustainable agricultural practices. In fact, the Three Sisters support each other so profoundly, often thriving better together than if grown separately, deterring pests, protecting the soil, and producing better yields.  Another benefit of the Three Sisters intercropping system includes several cost savings due to the decreased need and associated cost for fertilizers, pesticides, as well as the need to develop intense irrigation systems and/or equipment.  

First Nations People of North America are renowned stewards of the land, ensuring all practices commit to the preservation of Mother Earth or more commonly known as Planet Earth. Walking softly on Mother Earth is the moral compass of First Nations Peoples and the opportunities to gain experience in these practices and apply them in our daily lives will be a steadfast response to reducing the detrimental impacts of climate change.  

"First Nations People of North America are renowned stewards of the land, ensuring all practices commit to the preservation of Mother Earth or more commonly known as Planet Earth.” -- Candace Lee Lickers --

BMO Soil Analytical Lab has the potential to further research to advance the Three Sisters concept with their state-of-the-art analytical facility that is dedicated to the analysis of soil and related environmental samples. The laboratory provides a wide range of tests for soil, water, plant, and other agricultural and environmental samples.  

BMO is proud to partner with organizations like the University of Saskatchewan. Together both organizations are committed to environmental stewardship.