Rice farming in Canada could be the future

Masa Shiroki and his wife Yukiko Shiroki started making sake – Japanese rice wine – in Canada in 2006, founding the company Artisan SakeMaker. This made Artisan SakeMaker the first licensed sake winery in Canada.

Around two years into the business venture, Shiroki decided to try his hand at cultivating his own rice. After extensive research, and a trip back to Japan, Shiroki found the perfect spot for rice production in Fraser Valley, British Columbia and hasn’t looked back since.

The harvest went well this year, despite a cold start to the growing season — which begins in May and ends in September — and extreme flooding in Abbotsford last year. This was thanks to an “unheard of” warmer end of the summer.

But for Shiroki, rice farming is more than just his livelihood.

“Rice cultivation and sake making are the backbone of the Japanese culture that lasted for 2, 000 years,” he said.

Beyond Artisan SakeMaker

Shiroki’s intentions for sake making in Canada however, go far beyond his own business.

When talking about the history of sake making in Canada, Shiroki mentioned the numerous Japanese immigrants on record at the Japanese cultural centre archive, who started making sake in as early as 1889. But government policies halted these efforts leading up to the outbreak of World War II. Japanese descendants in Canada were famously mistreated by the Canadian government and were sent to internment camps for the duration of the war.

When speaking about these events and Canadian sake production, Shiroki said “I would like to bring it back to the new land.”

Increasing Popularity

Having paved the way for others in the agricultural community in Canada, Shiroki has big aspirations for the future of rice cultivation.

“Rice will definitely be a major agricultural crop in Canada in maybe 30 or 50 years.” As the effects of climate change are exacerbated, Shiroki says it’s “definitely taking us to a very different level of climatic conditions which suits the northern Japanese variety of rice very well.” Shiroki thinks the changing climate will increase demand for rice production and that the government would eventually “have to think about the food security for the future of Canada.”

As for the popularity of sake, Shiroki has seen an increase in adoption of the beverage especially in North America and Europe. People now see sake as an alternative to wine and have been using it in, as well as pairing it with “Asian influenced cuisine, which is bubbling all over the place.”

Shiroki says that while sake is taking time to become a mainstream beverage, “in 10 to 20 years I’m sure that will be very different.”

Challenges

To start cultivating rice in Canada, there were many hurdles for Shiroki to overcome. One being the support from government. But after 11 years of rice cultivation in Abbotsford, and “huge” logistical challenges, “the government is now interested.” Shiroki now has ongoing projects at the federal, provincial, and local government levels.

That’s not to say there aren’t still disagreements Shiroki has with government, which according to Shiroki doesn’t allow the use of chemicals for weed control. Shiroki said this was “keeping them more busy weeding than harvesting.”

Another challenge Shiroki’s business faced was the lack of proper equipment in Canada for the cultivation of rice. Shiroki had to painstakingly import all the equipment from Japan, including the machines used for processing like driers and dehuskers.