When golden hour arrives at Avtar Dillon's farm in Abbotsford, British Columbia, rows of delicate purple flowers are in full bloom.
Inside their petals grow crimson threads of the most expensive spice in the world – saffron.
“[It’s] my dream is to do something new for Abbotsford,” says Dillon.
The farmer's labor of love has begun to blossom in 2021. He says he was the first to grow the ancient spice on a large scale in British Columbia – and among only a few in the country. But soon after his first successful harvest, Dillon was heartbroken.
Floods in British Columbia in November of that year destroyed his farm, leaving almost 250,000 people behind. Crocus sativum, commonly known as saffron bulbs under muddy water. Despite the loss, Dillon says he remains committed to making Abbotsford the saffron capital of British Columbia.
Four years later, the dream is blooming again. Dillon has expanded his saffron farm, is working on new technologies to make harvesting more efficient, and has even inspired other farmers to grow and innovate in the use of the spice both in Abbotsford and beyond in Alberta and Ontario.
“I'm excited,” says Dillon, walking in late October through his 1.5-acre (0.6-hectare) crop, which has produced more than 500,000 saffron bulbs this year.
But Dillon says that while he carefully picks the flowers for harvest, he still faces the big challenge of insuring his prized crop. It's a safety he hopes to see soon for himself and other manufacturers.
“They [the provincial government] They don't agree with me. If anything happens again, I have no insurance,” Dillon said. “Everyone feels uncomfortable when they [don’t] have insurance.”
A statement from the Ministry of Agriculture said that while cWhile crop insurance is not currently available for new crops such as saffron, insurance may be considered if the crops can prove they are “commercially and agronomically viable” in British Columbia with sufficient production and marketing data.
He also noted that new crop producers are eligible to participate in AgriStability, a program that protects farmers from loss of income due to factors such as poor weather and market conditions.
Saffron is known as the world's most expensive spice per gram. And what was once a promising dream of growing a precious spice in Canada's cold climate is blossoming for more growers in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and beyond. CBC's Banit Braich talks to us about the latest challenges in saffron growing and creative solutions to make it work.
The ministry said it is aware of several farmers growing saffron, but to its knowledge, none of them are yet at the stage of large-scale commercial production.
On the way to new innovations
Dillon's wife, father and daughter-in-law gather around the table, carefully picking saffron threads from freshly picked flowers. For them, the hours of effort every day are worth it—one gram of their saffron sells for $50, Dillon says.
To make the labor-intensive process more efficient, Dillon hired more staff and teamed up with a designer to create equipment for planting bulbs and harvesting spices.
Dillon is encouraging more growers who source bulbs from his farm to explore and experiment with saffron.
At Charanjit Singh's farm in Abbotsford, scientists from the Canadian company Invitro Technologies work in the laboratory, growing saffron plants in glass jars.
In the work, scientists scrape off plant tissue, place it in a special nutrient-rich formula called medium, and grow saffron and other plants under controlled conditions.
Scientist Baljeet Singh Gill says each saffron plant in the laboratory can reproduce up to three times every six to eight weeks. The young plants are then moved to a propagation greenhouse to strengthen their roots. Once the bulbs begin to be produced, they can be planted indoors or outdoors.
“We select plants in the field that have good characteristics, that have good qualities… and then we can propagate them,” Gill explained.
Their goal is for Canada to produce its own saffron bulbs that are free from disease and pests, rather than relying on imports.
“I'm gaining more experience in using pots and tissue culture techniques, so I hope they grow well. I'm very happy about that,” Singh said.
Saffron in a box
And outside British Columbia's Fraser Valley, a Calgary resident grows saffron in his garage as a hobby.
Vikash Sangwan, an entrepreneur and engineer, has created a prototype called Saffron Box, which uses artificial intelligence technology to provide the right conditions for saffron bulbs to grow indoors.
“Who wouldn’t want to grow red gold,” says Sangwan.
Sangwan can monitor factors such as carbon dioxide, light and humidity from his phone using a third-party app.
He hopes more Canadians will benefit from the spice and the country will become a major supplier of saffron.
“This is for Canadian families,” says Sangwan. “This is a huge, huge opportunity.”
Continued innovation in saffron shows more Canadians are exploring the potential of alternative crops, he says. Lenore Newman is 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 use our [Agricultural Land Reserve] to maximize and truly grow agriculture to help support Canada's economy and our sovereignty,” she said.
Back in Abbotsford, as the sun sets on the Sumas Prairie, the Avtar family is at work with another red gold harvest, saffron, still weeks on the horizon.
