A look at the life of saffron farmers in Iran from cultivation to harvest
Farmer activity in traditional saffron cultivation
In this method, the farmer first plows and fertilizes his field in autumn or winter with the help of a number of other farmers.
Next, in the summer, with a simple shovel or mechanized planting machine
, dig holes of suitable depth in the ground and plant saffron bulbs in them.
Then they sow the planted soil so that the saffron bulbs stick to the soil and the soil is leveled.
Now they leave the land until the irrigation season in autumn.
Once in the summer, when the land is at rest, and once immediately after the saffron flower harvest,
the saffron farmer cleans the land of weeds using hand tools or a weeding machine (such as a shovel, shovel, Iranian plow, and cultivator).
The saffron harvest celebration stage is the most important and sensitive stage of saffron cultivation for the farmer;
Because now he can see the results of all the efforts he has made during the year with the emergence of beautiful purple flowers of saffron in his land.
On the other hand, saffron flowers are very sensitive to sunlight,
hot weather and wind and the life of each saffron flower is three to four days.
Therefore, the farmer must harvest the flowers in time and before sunrise so that they do not disappear and lose their quality.
The saffron harvest stage takes place once a year in November and lasts for 10 to 25 days (saffron flowering time).
Harvesting saffron flowers can be done both manually and using mechanized machines for harvesting saffron flowers that work faster.
In the next part of the saffron stage, the farmers clean the arranged flowers by hand or with a saffron cleaning machine (separating the flower stigmas).
hydroponic (water planting) and aeroponic (aeration) greenhouse cultivation.
Saffron farmer in each of these methods also goes through special steps to cultivate saffron.
Farmers prepare saffron bulbs in June to July and place them in a cool, dry environment.
If the farmer uses the hydroponic method to cultivate saffron,
he puts the onions in special tanks containing water in the greenhouse from August to September.
The bulbs then germinate in October and finally flower in November. If the farmer uses the aeroponic method,
he picks the onions in wooden layers in the greenhouse and cultivates them with mulch using a fogger or mister.
Tools used by farmers in greenhouse saffron cultivation include humidifiers, foggers, timers,
hygrometers, thermometers, coolers and heaters.
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