Research at the University of Saskatchewan is helping herb and spice growers develop better crops.
Gene Arganosa, research officer at the Crop Development Centre at the university, has completed a three-year project on developing the spice industry in Saskatchewan.
Along with collaborators Al Slinkard, professor emeritus at CDC, and Frank Sosulski, professor emeritus in the university’s plant sciences department, they studied caraway, coriander, anise, dill, cumin, ajowan and fenugreek.
Caraway and coriander are the major spice crops in Saskatchewan. For these spices, researchers carried out more detailed studies looking at seeding dates, seeding rate and depth, as well as fertilization. They then had the seeds produced from the tests undergo chemical analysis.
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Less is known about commercial viability of anise, dill, cumin, ajowan and fenugreek in Saskatchewan. The project’s final report states disease problems in field crops of cumin must be overcome before further testing can be done, and it’s still not known if ajowan will grow well in the province.
“On the other hand, fenugreek grows relatively well in the longer season area – dark brown soil zone – of Saskatchewan,” said Arg-anosa. “One unnamed selection has been bred for zero tannin, which lessens the bitterness. Its seed yields were only slightly less than regular tannin fenugreek. Chemical analysis is still being performed.”
The project was supported by Saskatchewan Agriculture’s Agriculture Development Fund.
Spice breeding and quality evaluation is continuing with support from the Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund.
For copies of the completed ADF project No. 93000157 (20AR), phone Saskatchewan Agriculture in Regina at 306-787-5152.
