30% increase in saffron harvest in East Azerbaijan province
The Deputy Minister of Crop Production Improvement of the East Azerbaijan Jihad Agricultural Organization announced a 30% increase in saffron production performance in the province this year.
Ali Rokh Afrooz stated:
This year, about 350 hectares of East Azerbaijan lands are under saffron cultivation, which compared to last year,
we had a nearly 20% increase in cultivated area,
He said that heavy snowfall and cold weather during the saffron harvest is a serious threat to the harvest of this precious product, he continued:
This year the weather is excellent and there is no problem in this regard and even with this type of weather,
Saffron can be grown in all parts of the province.
The Deputy Minister of Crop Production Improvement of East Azerbaijan Jihad-e-Agriculture Organization continued:
Due to the reduction of groundwater,
the Jihad-e-Agriculture Organization of the province has planned to include low-water and cost-effective crops in the province’s crop cultivation pattern, including saffron.
Rokh Afrooz, stating that the average yield of dry saffron production in the country is 3.4 kg per hectare, said:
With the efforts of literate farmers in the province,
the average yield of this crop in East Azerbaijan has reached four kilograms per hectare.
He said:
The highest area of saffron cultivation is in Marand,
Azarshahr and Shabestar counties and Marand county has 195 hectares with a production of more than 800 kg and is the first in the province.
He considered the price of fresh saffron to be 160 to 170 thousand tomans and added:
the main price of each kilo of saffron this year is 12 to 13 million tomans.
Engineer Rokh Afrooz estimated the amount of saffron production in the country at 336 tons last year and said:
Our country has more than 90% of the global share of saffron production.
Regarding saffron processing, he said:
Rural Cooperative Organization intends to enter the issue of processing and supplying
saffron to the market and wants to buy and sell it in the form of stock exchange and export this product to different countries.
Regarding the situation of saffron exports, the Deputy Minister of Plant Production Improvement of the Jihad Agriculture Organization added:
Before the corona, the export situation was good and it was done in the form of customs and luggage,
but after the corona, due to export restrictions,
despite no export barriers, exports Dropped.
He reminded:
Saffron is a Mazar product on the country’s production and usually does not have much domestic consumption,
so when the product and marketed all over the country at the same time,
some people try to lower prices and farmers to some extent.
If they cover the expenses they will be satisfied but if these farmers wait for three months,
the price will definitely go up; This is a principle at harvest time.
Get Social