NMSU’s Sustainable Agriculture Science Center at Alcalde explores non-traditional crops

Adriana M. Chávez, New Mexico State University

LAS CRUCES - While New Mexico has built a strong economy on several of its best-known crops like chile and pecans, NMSU researchers are taking a closer look at non-traditional crops that may be adaptable to the state’s climates and regions – and how these crops may impact the state’s economy.

Saeid Zehtab Salmasi, the research director of New Mexico State University’s Sustainable Agriculture Science Center at Alcalde, is leading one such project. Last fall, Salmasi and his team successfully harvested flowers from about 2,000 saffron corms planted in hoop houses and open fields. He is now assessing the viability of saffron production in northern New Mexico.

“Saffron has a unique growing cycle wherein flowers emerge during fall, followed by leaf growth until May,” Salmasi said. “Subsequently, the leaves desiccate, leading to a dormant period until late September when new corms develop to yield flowers for the succeeding year.”

In the late summer and early fall of 2024, Salmasi’s research team planted 2,000 saffron corms to investigate how planting timing and varying irrigation levels influence saffron cultivation.

Saffron is commonly known as the world’s most expensive spice – with an average price of $30 per gram for saffron grown in the United States. That could potentially generate more than $50,000 in net revenue per acre.

“Diversification toward high-value crops can be a promising strategy to enhance farmers’ economic welfare in the region,” Salmasi said. “This project will produce new knowledge and promote high-value, low-input plants to the growers of northern New Mexico, while soil health and environmental benefits can improve overall on-farm resiliency, reduce off-farm inputs and increase biodiversity.”

Another project focuses on the selection of hardy lavender cultivars and how they adapted to the growing conditions of northern New Mexico. The project is a collaboration between NMSU research specialist Robert Heyduck and Kevin Lombard, the research director of the NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Farmington.

In 2018, researchers collected seeds from elder lavender plants that have survived extreme heat and cold, infrequent irrigation and weeding, suboptimal management conditions and long-term soil-borne diseases.

Lavender is a high-value medicinal herb and ornamental plant commonly used in soaps and cleaning products. It is drought-tolerant and grows well in alkaline, sandy and low-fertility soils. Farmers also often grow lavender to promote agritourism.

Shengrui Yao, an Extension fruit specialist in NMSU’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, conducts research on jujubes, also known as Chinese dates, at the Sustainable Agriculture Science Center at Alcalde, the Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas and the Leyendecker Plant Science Research Center.

Jujubes grow and produce well in the Southwest, specifically between central and southern New Mexico. While jujubes continue to grow in popularity in the U.S., researchers are still identifying ways to best market the fruit, which is rich in vitamin C and can be eaten fresh or dried.

Yao is also working on research projects involving stone fruits like peaches and cherries at the Alcalde science center. Some of her colleagues are studying other non-traditional crops to address unique challenges facing New Mexico, including labor, water and climate issues, and the amount of acreage available to growers.

“Farmers are great entrepreneurs,” said Jay Lillywhite, associate dean of the College of ACES and director of the NMSU Agricultural Experiment Station. “Many farmers innovate by reducing costs and identifying new crops or value-added opportunities.”

Lillywhite and Adedapo Oyenugo, a master’s student studying agricultural economics and agricultural business, are working with NMSU researchers in Alcalde on an economic feasibility study to better understand the value of non-traditional crops. They are developing a financial model to examine potential returns to growing and processing these crops.

“The analysis will help producers determine if growing and processing these crops can be profitable,” Lillywhite said.

A version of this story was originally published in the fall 2024 issue of ACES Magazine. For more stories, visit https://nmsu.news/aces-magazine-fall-2024.

Adriana M. Chávez writes for New Mexico State University Marketing and Communications and can be reached at 575-646-1957, or by email at adchavez@nmsu.edu.