8-fold growth of saffron cultivation
The father of Iranian saffron said: the area under saffron cultivation has increased in the last 40 years.
Behzad Sadeghi stated: the area under saffron cultivation in the province in 1952 was about 10 thousand hectares, which today has reached more than 80 thousand hectares. Also, the amount of saffron produced in the last 40 years has increased from 18 tons per year to over 250 tons. The reason for the increase in production of this product in recent years is the industrialization of Spain and its exit from the world saffron production market.
He added: not all this amount of saffron produced in the province is sold. For example, last year, 20% of saffron was produced in surplus, which if the producers of this product increase, will face the migration of villagers from this area. 107 thousand Khorasan farmers earn their living from the sale of saffron and should not be monopolized. This product should be exported from Khorasan, because the livelihood of about 800,000 people in Khorasan is provided by the production of saffron and the livelihood of 200,000 people is provided through the packaging and export of this product.
Sadeghi called the climate of Khorasan dry and rainy and said: The only product that has the value of production in the province and can provide living expenses for people is saffron. Saffron production by other provinces is an alarm for the country. This problem poses a problem for Khorasan and other parts of the country because the change of use of the lands in the north of the country, which have enough rain, will damage the agricultural lands.
He considered the quality of saffron to be dependent on two factors: latitude and altitude and added: the higher the altitude, the better the color and aroma of saffron will be, for example, the quality of Ghaenat saffron due to its height of 400 meters above sea level. It is better to Bajestan and Bardaskan.
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