"AZAFARM proves that it is possible to control the sprouting and flowering of saffron through vertical farming"
AZAFARM has managed to programme the sprouting of saffron and concentrate its flowering period in order to facilitate better planning for production and harvesting
AZAFARM’s partners have presented the key findings of the initiative at a conference held at the Aragón Centre for Gastronomic Innovation. The meeting provided an opportunity to share the findings from three trial campaigns and to showcase the prototype developed for the controlled vertical cultivation of saffron.
Saffron is one of the crops with the highest added value in the agri-food sector. However, production largely depends on factors such as weather conditions, the availability of labour and the fact that the harvest is concentrated within a very short period. To address these challenges, AZAFARM has been researching new production strategies based on controlled environments and advanced agricultural technologies.
The initiative, coordinated by the Agri-Food Innovation and Transfer Foundation (FITA), brings together Azafrán de Teruel La Carrasca, Ingeniería y Montajes Monzón (TATOMA Group), Z-Greens, TECNALIA, CAMPAG, the Chefs’ Association of Aragón and the Huesca Provincial Hospitality and Tourism Association, in order to move towards a more controlled, programmable and predictable cultivation system.
From traditional cultivation to a smart and controlled environment
AZAFARM’s aim has been to analyse the extent to which it is possible to replicate the conditions necessary for saffron growth in a climate-controlled vertical environment in order to reduce dependence on external environmental conditions during the most critical stages of cultivation.
- A portable module for vertical cultivation has been designed and built to control variables such as temperature, humidity, lighting or CO₂ concentration. The solution incorporates a multi-level structure that optimises the available space and allows for different experimental set-ups.
- Furthermore, TECNALIA has developed the electronic monitoring and data collection system, based on IoT technologies. This infrastructure records information in real time, stores it and analyses it to gain a better understanding of crop behaviour under different environmental conditions.
Programmed sprouting and flowering: a key breakthrough
Following three trial campaigns, the initiative has succeeded in demonstrating that it is possible to programme sprouting and ensure controlled and concentrated flowering, one of the main milestones fulfilled by the consortium.
The trials carried out have enabled different cultivation set-ups, planting densities, corm sizes and climate control strategies to be compared. Thanks to this research, cycles have been identified that offer an optimal balance between development time, floral intensity and production yield.
The ability to concentrate production within specific periods offers a significant advantage for harvest planning and opens up new opportunities to move towards more efficient production models that are less dependent on climate variability.
Digitalisation and traceability for more precise farming
Another of AZAFARM’s major achievements has been the creation of a fully sensor-equipped and traceable experimental platform. During the trials, environmental and agronomic variables, such as temperature, relative humidity, light levels, CO₂, the emergence of shoots, the number of flowers and the yield obtained were monitored.
The integration of this data enables comparable and reproducible protocols to be established, facilitating decision-making and accelerating knowledge generation for future industrial applications.
A technological foundation for the future of saffron cultivation
The results obtained confirm the technical feasibility of controlling the sprouting and flowering stages of saffron in a monitored vertical cultivation environment. The research has also highlighted new challenges, such as managing the vegetative phase, industrial scalability or cost optimisation. The findings provide a solid foundation for further progress in these areas of work.
The combination of agronomic expertise, climate control, digitalisation and data analysis applied at AZAFARM opens up new possibilities to foster more efficient and resilient production systems, particularly in rural areas where innovation can create new opportunities for economic development.
Initiative funded by the Cooperation Actions of the PEPAC 2023–2026 Operational Groups for Aragón (GOP-2023-0027-00).