Herb and spice growers in Saskatchewan are trying to guarantee future funding for their industry.
They are lobbying politicians to give the industry a checkoff.
“It’ll be important to have a checkoff in four years (when grant money from the Agri-Food Innovation Fund runs out),” said Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association president Martin Gareau.
The fund contains money from the Crow transportation subsidy buyout and has been used to promote research and development in non-traditional areas such as herb and spice growing.
Checkoff-funded research could continue the innovation fund research now being done at the Saskatchewan Irrigation Development Centre in Outlook, Gareau said.
Researcher Al Slinkard said money raised by producers can often be matched with money from provincial and federal governments, providing more research bang for the producer buck.
A recent mailout survey shows 77 percent of herb and spice growers support paying a levy to fund research, said association executive member Kerry Maurer.
The irrigation centre is researching coriander, caraway, anise, dill and fenugreek.
