Chairman of the National Saffron Council: Iran’s saffron exports decreased
Mohsen Ehtesham added: Last year, despite the bottlenecks and problems they faced, exporters redoubled their efforts to maintain and increase the share of saffron exports from world markets, but at the end of the year, they faced a bottleneck.
Unfortunately, the corona virus has had a negative impact on businesses around the world. Saffron is an export commodity and most exports are made by air, while many flights have been canceled or restricted during this period, he said.
The head of Birjand Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture stated: At the end of March 2017 and April 2016, we either did not have airline flights or it was operated with the least possible reason. Transportation was reduced to a minimum.
He stated that now we are facing a decline in exports to world markets: Also, the demand and supply of saffron products in the domestic market also faced serious problems, for example, Mashhad in March and April received five to 6 million pilgrims each year, which They used to buy saffron as a souvenir, but Corona has reduced the supply of saffron in the domestic market by 80%.
Ehtesham noted that there is now a demand for saffron in global markets: The largest saffron export markets include Europe, Italy, the United States, Germany, Sweden, France and China, all of which went on holiday, as well as the markets of Arab countries, including the UAE and The Indian market also ran into trouble.
He said: For many years, we have been pursuing the establishment of a saffron protection fund in such a way that one percent of the saffron export value is collected in this fund and we can introduce, market and brand this product under the supervision of private sector organizations, but it did not succeed.
The chairman of the National Saffron Council added: We are the largest producer of saffron in the world, but unfortunately no one knows us because we have not introduced our product properly.
Emphasizing the need for education and culture of planting, holding, harvesting and marketing of saffron, he said: If the saffron protection fund had been established years ago, it could have developed our market and increased the culture of saffron consumption and demand during the outbreak of coronary heart disease.
Ehtesham said: We are facing a situation where the level of saffron cultivation is increasing every year, while we do not have a market increase in proportion to it, and more efforts should be made in this regard.
He added: Saffron is an herbal medicine and this belief is well established in traditional Chinese medicine, so there is a need to introduce more medicinal properties of saffron and make people aware of these properties.
The three active ingredients in saffron are crocin, picrocrocin and saffronal, which have high medicinal properties and are produced in many countries, while in most cases they are used only to color rice, said the CEO of Tarvand Ghaen Saffron Production and Agriculture Group. Placed.
He added: We could not introduce this saffron as the cradle of saffron cultivation in the world. However, according to traditional Chinese medicine, saffron can be introduced as an anti-coronary drug to boost the body’s immune system, and we could not address this threat. Turn it into an opportunity.
Ehtesham reminded: In general, in the history of saffron exports, we faced a sharp decline in exports, which was unprecedented in its kind, but we hope to compensate for this decline with the situation in the coming months.
He stated that there is a demand for saffron in the world market and said: We hope that the situation will be facilitated in June or July and the shipment of goods by air will be established.
The head of the Birjand Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture said: The saffron industry should be strengthened so that artisans can maintain their workforce. We hope to have good analyzes in this regard.
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