20 October 2010
Iran's saffron output will double within five years through implementation of a new plan by Agricultural Jihad Ministry, a senior official in the ministry said.
Behrouz Gheibi told Persian daily Iran that the proposed plan to improve Iranian saffron would help upgrade the quality and quantity of this precious spice.
He said Infrastructural Commission of the government is studying the plan. Once it is ratified, about seven kilograms of Saffron per hectare of land will be harvested during the sixth five-year economic development plan (2015-2020).
Currently, the figure stands at 3.5 kg per hectare, Gheibi added.
The plan is aimed at improving the quality of product through organic methods, proper use of machineries, reaching creditable standards in production procedures, and getting a foothold in new markets, the official pointed out.
He explained that the plan would be implemented through six schemes.
$231m Required
About $231 million is required for implementation of the project, the official said, putting the government share at 39 percent, banking facilities at 41 percent and private sector at 20 percent.
Saffron is considered as the most precious indigenous plant which has been cultivated in Khorasan Razavi and South Khorasan provinces since 700 years ago.
Between 250 and 280 tons of saffron are annually traded worldwide--equivalent to 3-4 percent of global spice trade.
The pace of saffron production and consumption has continued to accelerate.
Close to 230 tons of saffron was produced from 1000 hectares of Iran's land during September 2007-2008 farming year.
While lands under saffron cultivation reached 61,000 hectares during 2008-2009 farming year, the output decreased due to drought and frost.
Saffron, botanical name crocus sativus, is the most expensive spice in the world. Derived from the dried reddish-purple stigmas of the saffron crocus, it takes anything from 70,000 to 250,000 flowers to make one pound of saffron. The flowers have to be individually handpicked in autumn when they are fully bloomed.
The delicate flowers are harvested only in mid-autumn. The flowers begin to grow after the first rains and the blooming period is usually mid-October when the temperature is just right.
It is mainly cultivated in Kashmir, Iran, and southern Europe including Spain, Greece and Italy.
Iran is considered one of top saffron producers worldwide. Due to its diverse climate and fertile soil, Iran's agriculture products are rated among the best in the world with its saffron being second to none.
While saffron is planted in many regions of the country, including the southeast, Khorasan region in the northeast has the highest production share.
Iran's saffron is exported mostly to the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Japan, Turkmenistan, France, Italy and even the US. The number of countries importing Iranian saffron is increasing.
Poor marketing, packaging and distribution have led to decline in the product prices.
Bulk Sales Major Blow
Secretary of National Saffron Council Farshid Manouchehri said earlier that although Iran produces and exports some 95 percent of global production of saffron, the country does not account for management of its international market.
"The main reason behind Iran's poor management of the global saffron market is that it exports saffron in bulks. Rival countries import Iranian saffron in bulks and then present the product to the international market under their own brand name," he added.
The official said up to 75 percent of Iran's saffron is exported in bulks.
"This figure was much higher in the past years. Ever since the tariff of five percent has been set on export of saffron in bulks, the trend has declined.
"Moreover, higher export prize is paid to smaller packages of exported saffron and this has also had an impact on decrease of exports in bulks. At present, 10 percent export prize is paid to saffron packages less than two grams," he noted.
Proper Packaging
Manouchehri emphasized that export of saffron in packages will have higher value added and income for the country.
"Since planting saffron in countries like Spain and Italy has declined, these countries have imported Iranian saffron in bulks and present the product to the global markets under their own brand names. It is obvious that production of saffron in countries like Spain and Italy is more costly compared to Iran.
In Iran, labor, energy and raw material costs are much lower than Europe," he noted.
He also said, "It requires a lot of time and large sums of money in advertisements to convince a person who has become accustomed to using Spanish saffron to buy Iranian saffron. Of course, the end user may not actually know that the saffron that he/she uses as Spanish brand is essentially Iranian saffron."
Iran's saffron output will double within five years through implementation of a new plan by Agricultural Jihad Ministry, a senior official in the ministry said.
Behrouz Gheibi told Persian daily Iran that the proposed plan to improve Iranian saffron would help upgrade the quality and quantity of this precious spice.
He said Infrastructural Commission of the government is studying the plan. Once it is ratified, about seven kilograms of Saffron per hectare of land will be harvested during the sixth five-year economic development plan (2015-2020).
Currently, the figure stands at 3.5 kg per hectare, Gheibi added.
The plan is aimed at improving the quality of product through organic methods, proper use of machineries, reaching creditable standards in production procedures, and getting a foothold in new markets, the official pointed out.
He explained that the plan would be implemented through six schemes.
$231m Required
About $231 million is required for implementation of the project, the official said, putting the government share at 39 percent, banking facilities at 41 percent and private sector at 20 percent.
Saffron is considered as the most precious indigenous plant which has been cultivated in Khorasan Razavi and South Khorasan provinces since 700 years ago.
Between 250 and 280 tons of saffron are annually traded worldwide--equivalent to 3-4 percent of global spice trade.
The pace of saffron production and consumption has continued to accelerate.
Close to 230 tons of saffron was produced from 1000 hectares of Iran's land during September 2007-2008 farming year.
While lands under saffron cultivation reached 61,000 hectares during 2008-2009 farming year, the output decreased due to drought and frost.
Saffron, botanical name crocus sativus, is the most expensive spice in the world. Derived from the dried reddish-purple stigmas of the saffron crocus, it takes anything from 70,000 to 250,000 flowers to make one pound of saffron. The flowers have to be individually handpicked in autumn when they are fully bloomed.
The delicate flowers are harvested only in mid-autumn. The flowers begin to grow after the first rains and the blooming period is usually mid-October when the temperature is just right.
It is mainly cultivated in Kashmir, Iran, and southern Europe including Spain, Greece and Italy.
Iran is considered one of top saffron producers worldwide. Due to its diverse climate and fertile soil, Iran's agriculture products are rated among the best in the world with its saffron being second to none.
While saffron is planted in many regions of the country, including the southeast, Khorasan region in the northeast has the highest production share.
Iran's saffron is exported mostly to the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Japan, Turkmenistan, France, Italy and even the US. The number of countries importing Iranian saffron is increasing.
Poor marketing, packaging and distribution have led to decline in the product prices.
Bulk Sales Major Blow
Secretary of National Saffron Council Farshid Manouchehri said earlier that although Iran produces and exports some 95 percent of global production of saffron, the country does not account for management of its international market.
"The main reason behind Iran's poor management of the global saffron market is that it exports saffron in bulks. Rival countries import Iranian saffron in bulks and then present the product to the international market under their own brand name," he added.
The official said up to 75 percent of Iran's saffron is exported in bulks.
"This figure was much higher in the past years. Ever since the tariff of five percent has been set on export of saffron in bulks, the trend has declined.
"Moreover, higher export prize is paid to smaller packages of exported saffron and this has also had an impact on decrease of exports in bulks. At present, 10 percent export prize is paid to saffron packages less than two grams," he noted.
Proper Packaging
Manouchehri emphasized that export of saffron in packages will have higher value added and income for the country.
"Since planting saffron in countries like Spain and Italy has declined, these countries have imported Iranian saffron in bulks and present the product to the global markets under their own brand names. It is obvious that production of saffron in countries like Spain and Italy is more costly compared to Iran.
In Iran, labor, energy and raw material costs are much lower than Europe," he noted.
He also said, "It requires a lot of time and large sums of money in advertisements to convince a person who has become accustomed to using Spanish saffron to buy Iranian saffron. Of course, the end user may not actually know that the saffron that he/she uses as Spanish brand is essentially Iranian saffron."
© Iran Daily 2010
