The different smells, colors and tastes of farm diversification in Canada are increasingly obvious.
More than ever before, the 1996 federal census of agriculture reflected the trend to niche crops on farms across the country.
In Ontario, a handful of farmers have sown more than 2,000 acres to smelt, an ancient grain grown for centuries in Ethiopia but only recently imported to Canada.
Government officials say the production is both exported to Africa and sold domestically through stores which serve the growing Ethiopian and North African immigrant population.
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The cooking herb coriander last year flourished on more than 9,000 Saskatchewan acres, in the province where wheat’s title as the king of crops is being challenged.
On sandy soils of southern Ontario which once grew most of Canada’s lucrative tobacco crop, the herb ginseng is becoming a popular alternative.
Statistics Canada reported that close to 6,000 acres of the crop were grown last year on 450 farms, mainly in southern Ontario but with a smattering in other provinces and on more than 1,000 British Columbia acres as well.
Ginseng is a popular medicinal herb in Chinese medicine and last year, more than one million kilograms were exported from Canada, mainly to Hong Kong.
“I think in future years we will be seeing a lot more of this, a lot more interesting crop mix in Canada,” Statistics Canada census of agriculture manager Mel Jones said last week. “Niche markets, declining subsidies for traditional crops and new opportunities all are driving the trend.”
