Baku, Azerbaijan, March 4
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
In the current harvest year Iran's saffron output has reached 400 tons, Deputy Agriculture Minister Mohammad Ali Tahmasebi said in an interview with Young Journalists Club (YJC), Trend reports March 4.
On average, 3.7-4 kilograms of saffron were harvested from each hectare, Tahmasebi said.
In the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2018), 227 tons of saffron in the amount of $295 million were exported, he said.
For comparison, in the previous Iranian year (March 21, 2017 - March 20,2018) 237 tons of saffron in the amount of $325 million were exported, he added.
Tahmasebi noted that compared to the first 10 months of the previous Iranian year, Iran's saffron exports have grown by approximately 21 percent in terms of weight, and 13.5 percent in terms of value.
Saffron is grown in an area of over 110,000 hectares in Iran, he said.
On average, every year 5,000 hectares are added to the saffron fields, he added.
Considering the fact that saffron doesn't require much water and is an export item, special attention is paid to saffron growing, the deputy minister said.