They are growing the world’s most expensive spice in Canada. This way
As the golden season approaches on Avtar Dhillon’s farm in Abbotsford, BC, rows of delicate purple flowers are in full bloom.
Inside their petals grow red threads of the world’s most expensive spice – saffron.
“My dream is to make a difference for Abbotsford,” says Dhillon.
The farmer’s love for hard work started flourishing in 2021. He says he was the first person to grow the ancient spice on a large scale in BC – and among only a handful in the country. But shortly after his first successful harvest, Dhillon was heartbroken.
In November of the same year the BC flood destroyed their farmland, leaving about 250,000 Crocus sativus, commonly known as saffron Bulb, under dirty water. Despite the loss, Dhillon says he’s committed to making Abbotsford the saffron capital of B.C.
After four years, the dream is once again flourishing. Dhillon has expanded his saffron farm, working on new technology to make harvesting more efficient and even inspiring other farmers in Abbotsford and beyond into Alberta and Ontario to cultivate and innovate with the spice.
“I feel excited,” says Dhillon in late October, walking among his 1.5 acres (0.6 hectares) of crops, which this year is home to more than 500,000 saffron bulbs.
But Dhillon says that while carefully plucking the flowers for harvest, he still faces a major challenge – insuring his prized crop. He hopes to see this protection for himself and other growers soon.
“They (the provincial government) don’t agree with me. If something happens again, I don’t have insurance,” Dhillon said. “Not everyone is comfortable when they don’t have insurance.”
The Agriculture Ministry said in a statement, while CWhile crop insurance is not currently available for emerging crops such as saffron, coverage may be considered if crops can prove they are “commercially and agriculturally viable” in BC with adequate production and marketing data.
It also says emerging crop producers are eligible to participate in AgriStability, a program that protects farmers from declines in income caused by things like bad weather and market conditions.
The ministry said it is aware that some farmers are growing saffron, but to its knowledge none are yet on a large commercial scale.
lay the foundation for new innovation
Dhillon’s The wife, father and sister-in-law gather around a table and carefully hand-pick threads of saffron from freshly cut flowers. Dhillon says that for him, the hours of effort each day are worth it – a gram of his saffron sells for $50.
To make the labor-intensive process more efficient, Dhillon has hired more employees and teamed up with a designer to create equipment for planting the bulbs and harvesting the spices.
Dhillon is inspiring more growers who have purchased bulbs from his farm to research and experiment with saffron.
At Charanjit Singh’s farm in Abbotsford, scientists from Canadian Invitro Technologies are at work in the laboratory growing saffron plants in glass jars.
As part of the work, scientists scrape plant tissue, put it in a special nutrient-rich formula called media and grow saffron and other plants under controlled conditions.
Scientist Baljeet Singh Gill says that each saffron plant can grow up to three times in the laboratory every six to eight weeks. The young plants are then moved to a propagation greenhouse to strengthen their roots. Once they have prepared the bulbs, they can be planted inside or outside.
“We select plants from the field with good traits, good traits … and then we can propagate them,” Gill said.
Their goal is to produce their own saffron bulbs for Canada, free of disease and pests, rather than relying on imports.
“I’m getting more experience with my vessels and tissue culture techniques, so hopefully it’ll be good. I’m excited to do it,” Singh said.
saffron in a box
And beyond BC’s Fraser Valley, a Calgary man is growing saffron as a hobby in his garage.
Vikas Sangwan, an entrepreneur and engineer, has created a prototype called Saffron Box, which uses AI technology to provide the right conditions to grow saffron bulbs indoors.
“Who wouldn’t want that right? Growing red gold,” says Sangwan.
Sangwan is able to monitor all factors including carbon dioxide, light and humidity from your phone using a third-party app.
He hopes that more Canadians will benefit from the spice and that the country will become a major supplier of saffron.
“This is for Canadian families,” says Sangwan. “It’s a grand, grand occasion.”
He says the ongoing saffron innovation shows how more Canadians are exploring alternative crops Lenore Newman, Director of the Institute of Food and Agriculture at the University of the Fraser Valley.
“All of these things together can really diversify our industry, make sure we’re making the most of our (agricultural land reserve) and really growing agriculture to help support Canada’s economy and our sovereignty,” he said.
Back in Abbotsford, as the sun sets over Sumas Prairie, Avtar’s family works for weeks with another crop of red gold – saffron – still on the horizon.
