Saffron harvest has recently started in some parts of Khorasan Razavi province, including Torbat-e Heydariyeh and parts of Zaveh city, in a limited way. .
Lack of coherent and principled planning for proper packaging and processing, sale of raw materials and bulk sales of saffron products has caused saffron profits to go to farmers instead of going to the pockets of others, in which they play the role of intermediaries and brokers.
This year, of course, due to drought and reduced rainfall and other bitter memories that result from the guaranteed and cheap purchase of saffron flowers, the producers remember that according to the forecast of Jihad Keshavarzi officials, the area under cultivation and also the production of this product have decreased.
Saffron is one of the crops that is cultivated in almost two thirds of the villages of Khorasan Razavi province and this province has a significant share in the production of this strategic product.
Decreased area under cultivation
Unfortunately, this year, the decrease in rainfall and other problems facing the producers have caused the area under cultivation of this crop to decrease.
In an interview with the market, the Deputy Minister of Crop Production Improvement of the Khorasan Razavi Jihad Agricultural Organization pointed to this point and said: “Reduction of rainfall and climate change last year overshadowed the cultivation of this crop in the province and therefore this year is expected to be lower compared to Let’s harvest last year.
Gholam Hossein Sarban Babian tells us that last year we had more than 300 tons of saffron production in Khorasan Razavi: the production forecast for this year is 200 tons.
Saffron smuggling
The Vice President of the National Council of Saffron Babian also explains about the process of saffron smuggling: “Unfortunately, every year some quantities of saffron leave the country from unofficial sources and channels, so the countries where Iranian saffron enters in this way, sell this product at cheaper world prices.” They offer, and that ultimately hurts us.
He continues: “People who are active in importing various goods to the country are faced with currency restrictions and therefore buy saffron and sell it at low prices in world markets to provide the currency they need. In fact, we can say that these unprofessional importers and exporters of saffron market.” Disrupt and break its price in world markets.
