Test
plot finds saffron yields twice as much spice as top producing region
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| Close-up of the crocus-like saffron flower |
But University of Rhode Island agriculture researchers have found that Ocean State farms have the potential to get a share of the market as demand for saffron in the United States grows.
“Saffron isn’t commonly
grown in the U.S.; the USDA doesn’t even track saffron production,” said
Rebecca Brown, URI professor of plant sciences, who is overseeing a study to
test how well the plant grows in Rhode Island.
“It’s tolerant of arid conditions, which is why it’s mostly grown in the poor dry soils of southeastern Iran. But until the last couple years, no one had tried to grow it in southern New England’s moist rich soils.”
“It’s tolerant of arid conditions, which is why it’s mostly grown in the poor dry soils of southeastern Iran. But until the last couple years, no one had tried to grow it in southern New England’s moist rich soils.”
A member of the crocus
family and nicknamed Red Gold, saffron comes from drying the stigma in the
flower of the 3- or 4-inch tall plants. The plant grows from a bulb-like corm,
similar to tulips and daffodils, rather than from seeds, and each planted corm produces
three additional corms every year, so it grows exponentially from year to year.
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| URI Professor Rebecca Brown (left) and postdoctoral researcher Rahmatallah Gheshm pose in front of their experimental crop of saffron on the URI campus. |
Demand for saffron in the U.S. is growing significantly as more
and more people from the Middle East and South Asia move here and as
appreciation grows for Middle Eastern and Indian foods.
In 2016, about 35 tons of saffron was imported into the United States, which is predicted to increase to 50 tons by 2021.
In 2016, about 35 tons of saffron was imported into the United States, which is predicted to increase to 50 tons by 2021.
In addition to its use as
a spice, saffron is also used as a source of food coloring and fabric dye, and
it is purported to have medicinal uses for those fighting cancer, depression
and age-related macular degeneration.
Gheshm is leading the
saffron research study at URI’s agricultural fields to determine the best
methods for growing it in Rhode Island. His experiments have assessed the best
planting densities and whether it should be covered or exposed during the
winter months.
“So far we’ve learned that
we can definitely produce saffron here,” Gheshm said. “Our second-year harvest
had twice the yield as saffron grown in Iran, and we predict that this year’s
harvest may be triple of Iran. With the good soil and water and weather here,
we’re getting a bigger yield.”
The URI experimental
saffron plot yielded 12 pounds of saffron per acre last year, compared to about
5 pounds per acre in Iran in the second year of growth.
According to Brown, one
Rhode Island farmer is already growing saffron commercially, and she has heard
from several others who are interested in trying it.
“It’s an attractive crop
because you don’t need sophisticated farm equipment or technology to grow it,”
she said. “It’s a lot less work to grow than vegetables – though it’s more
labor intensive to harvest, which is why saffron is so expensive. It also
doesn’t have insect or disease problems here, and you don’t have to water it.
All of that is attractive to farmers.”
Brown and Gheshm have been
awarded a grant from the Rhode Island Division of Agriculture to conduct
additional studies of saffron production to determine whether it is best grown
in monoculture or if it can be grown with other plants to increase farm
revenues.
“Saffron is dormant from
June to September, which is our prime growing season for annual crops,” Brown
said. “If farmers can plant something else – lettuce, basil, flowers – on top
of their saffron, how does that affect the yield of saffron and whatever else
you’re planting on it? That’s the next question we want to answer.”
The grant will also fund a
conference at URI for farmers and agricultural scientists interested in
learning more about saffron production.
