A Comparative Study of Saffron Agronomy and Production
Systems of Khorasan (Iran) and Kashmir (India)
M. Kafi
Center of excellence for especial Crops
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran
m.kafi@ferdowsi.um.ac.ir
T. Showket
tajamulshowket@yahoo.co.in
Abstract
Saffron as the worlds' most valuable industrial/medicinal product has a great
exporting importance in Iran (South Khorasan) and India’s (Jammu and Kashmir)
agricultural economics. Presently, Iran with production of more than 70% of the
world saffron is ranked as the first, and India with production of 7.0 ton saffron is
ranked as third saffron producer, worldwide. In Iran and India importance of saffron
besides its exporting value is related to high water productivity, rural employment,
and high net profit compared to other crops. This survey has been done in order to
find the similarities and differences of saffron production systems in South Khorasan
and Kashmir. There are basic climatical differences, such as humidity, altitude, and
rainfall in two regions. The main similarity is temperature data in two regions, that
might play the key role in saffron growth. Saffron production in Kashmir is rainfed
system while in Khorasan it is completely dependent on irrigation. Time of planting
and harvesting are similar in two regions, but the rate of corm sowing, and depth of
sowing in Khorasan is much higher than Kashmir. Khorasani farmers believe that the
flower should be picked up early and every morning, but Kashmiri farmers not only
do not do flower picking in early morning, but also do picked the flower one time,
every four days. The trend of area under cultivation and production of saffron is
increasing in Khorasan but in Kashmir is declining. The price of Kashmiri saffron is
pretty higher than Iranian saffron. We could not find any documented differences
between saffron of Khorasan and Kashmir, except the shorter style along with stigma
1
in Kashmiri saffron. There is no any governmental or private association to control
the quality standards and price of this valuable product in Kashmir, but in Khorasan,
there some governmental and producer associations that manitor saffron quality
standards. The main destination of Khashmiri saffron export are Spain, France, USA,
UK, UAE while Khorasani saffron is mainly exporting to UAE, Spain, Italy, France,
Switzerland. Kashmiri farmers turn deaf ear when asked to employ new revolutionary
methods to increase their productivity due to illiteracy.
1- Introduction:
Saffron as the world's most valuable industrial/medicinal product has a great
exporting importance in Iran and India’s (Jammu and Kashmir) agricultural
economics. While saffron is well known as a spice, it has many other uses in food
industries, pharmaceutics, cosmetics, perfume industries and in production of
textile dyes (6, 8).
The State of Jammu and Kashmir (Kashmir) is the northern most state of India comprising
three distinct climatic regions viz. Arctic cold desert areas of Ladakh, temperate Kashmir
valley and sub-tropical region of Jammu. This State situated between 32.17 º and 36.58 º
north latitude and 37.26 º and 80.30 º east longitude, falls in the great north-western, complex
of the Himalayan ranges and constitutes the northern most extremity of India. Average height
of the valley is 1850 meters above sea level but the surrounding mountains, which are always
snow-clad, rise from three to four thousand meters above sea level. The surface of the valley
is plain and abounds with springs and lakes (17).
In India almost all saffron production is limited to state of Jammu and Kashmir. In
Kashmir the saffron is chiefly grown in district Pulwama (73%) (Pampore; Balhuma;
Wayun; Munpur; Mueej; Konibal; Dus; Zundhur; Letpur; Sombar; Baras; Ladu;
Gundbal; Undrus; Khrew; Parigam; Wahibug; Payer & Wasura), district Budgam
(Chadura; Nagam; Lasjan; Ompora; Kralpura; Kandajan; Telsaru; ujan; Humpur;
Nowpur; Chaudrigund; Dalpur & Badipur, Anantnag), District Zeripur; Srechan;
Kaimouh; Samthan & Buch, Srinagar District, (Zewan; Zawreh & Ganderbal) and
Doda District (Kishtwar) (8, 18).
Saffron is believed to be introduced into the Kashmir valley by the Persian migrants
who along with saffron introduced many other plant species, especially the Maple
2
Tree known locally as Chinar or Boune, Carpet making, Embroidery and Papier
Machie to name a few (6, 16).
Presently, Iran with production of more than 70% of the world saffron is ranked as the
first, and India with 7.0-ton saffron is ranked as third saffron producer. In Iran and
India importance of saffron besides its exporting value is related to high water
productivity, rural employment, and high net profit of saffron compared to other crops
(6, 18).
More than 90% of Iranian saffron is produced in Khorasan and main regions of
production are Ghaen, Torbat Haydarieh, Gonabad, Ferdows and Birjand. Khorasan
was the name of the biggest province of Iran till 2004, by that time it divided to three
newly established provinces in the names of Khorasan Razavi (Torbat Haydarieh,
Gonabad and Ferdows are the main cities of saffron production), North Khorasan (no
major saffron production area) and South Khorasan (which is the main region of
saffron production) (6).
South Khorasan province is located in the east of Iran, with a dry climate, hot
summers, and relatively cold winters. The annual precipitation of this area is 170 mm
with no rain in May till October. Therefore, all agricultural crops should be irrigated
in all growth stages.
Total cultivated area of saffron in Iran was increased up to 3.9 folds during the last 12
years with mean annual growth rate of 22.4%. Similar trend was observed for total
saffron production (Figure 1). However, total saffron production during the same
period was increased 2.8 times with a mean annual growth rate of 13.7% (15).
This trend was converse in India during last ten years. Saffron, which has been a
legendry, high value and low volume cash crop of Jammu & Kashmir is still underexploited. This once chief crop of Kashmir farmers is on decline now as is evident
from the fact that till 1997-98 the total area under saffron cultivation in the Valley
was 5361 hectares and the annual production output was approximately 17 metric
tones of dry yield while in 2002-03 the total cultivated area was 2710 hectares and the
production hovering around six metric tones. The decline in cultivation area and
production since 1997-98 is 49% and 64% respectively (10, 17, 18).
3
50
200
Kashmir (,000 ha)
Khorasan (,000 ha)
Kashmir (Ton)
Khorasan (Ton)
0
20
03
20
0
2-
-9
97
19
-9
19
96
-9
95
19
-9
94
19
-9
93
19
-9
91
19
-9
90
19
Time
8
0
7
40
6
10
5
80
4
20
2
120
Production (Ton)
160
30
1
Area under Cultivation (,000 ha)
40
Fig1: Trend in area under cultivation, and production on saffron in
kashmir (India) and Khorasan (Iran). During 1990-2002. The lack of
some years between the period is due to availability of official data.
This survey has been done in order to find the similarities and differences of saffron
production systems in South Khorasan and Kashmir, which is famous as small Iran
(Iran-e-Saghir), and farmers of two countries could enjoy from each others
experiences.
4
2- Materials and Methods
The survey was conducted in agronomical years of 2004-2005, and 2005-2006. There
are four main districts of saffron production in Kashmir, namely, Pulwama, Budgam,
Srinagar and Doda. From each district we select four local farmers randomly and
interviewed them by answering a questionnaire. Questionnaire consisted of 27
questions and from each farmer the same questions were asked. Interestingly, the
answers were so similar, and these similarities are also visible in cultural practice,
shape of farms as well as post harvest practices of saffron in Kashmir valley.
Therefore we could not find significant differences among four areas, but based on,
these results, it can be concluded that farmers in Pulwama district enjoy better
information and prepare to apply scientific methods. Generally, there is no difference
between systems of saffron production in 21st century with three centuries ago in this
state. The Kashmir region has very less literacy percentage (about 59%), which may
be one of the keys why they are against using new methods of farming.
Some data that were not easy and reliable through interview to farmers, they were
measured in two successive years, 2004 and 2005. These parameters were included
number of flowers per kilogram, weight of fresh and dry stigma in one kg flower,
moisture content of different parts of the flower, efficiency of picking flower and
separating stigma from the other parts of the flower.
Data of South Khorasan were took from the results of current researches which have
been done in the area, as well as other resources available and interviewing farmers in
Birjand, Ferdows, and Ghaen. Apart from farmers and system of production, there are
some geographical and climatical differences that affect the production systems of
saffron in Kashmir and Khorasan, here climate, and soil conditions are introduced.
Although saffron grows well under temperate and dry climates, its vegetative growth
coincides with cold weather and freezing conditions. Usually the maximum
temperature for October, November and December in the Southern parts of Khorasan
does not exceed 20˚c, while the minimum temperature reaches -15c. Base
temperature for Saffron has not been recorded in literature, but the minimum
temperature tolerated by this plant was recorded at -18˚c. However, local population
of saffron in Torbate Hydarieh, the extreme Northern area for saffron production in
Khorasan tolerates temperature as low as -22˚c. Since flower development mainly
proceeds under soil conditions, soil temperature plays an important role in flower
5
production. Planting depth is normally recommended to be in the deeper layers of the
soil (15 cm). This may be associated with low variability of soil temperature at this
depth (30). Normally the climatic conditions of Southern Khorasan in the areas of
Ghaen, Gonabad, Ferdows and Birjand are regarded as the standard type of climate
required by saffron. Climatic parameters, such as temperature, rainfall and probability
of freezing occurring in the months of October and November are well documented
(6).
Table 1 and 2 shows long term average climatic data of two synoptic meteorological
stations of Birjand (center of South Khorasan) and Srinagar (center of Kashmir).
These data revealed that there are much more differences between climate of two
regions, but still both areas are capable for saffron growing. For instance, in the case
of precipitation, the amount of rainfall in Kashmir is 3.7 fold of Birjand. The relative
Table 1: Average weather conditions including average rainfall, average
maximum and average minimum daily temperature, average sunlight, relative
and humidity in Birjand, South Khorasan.
Month
Temperature
Average
Precipitatio
n (mm)
Average
Sunlight
hours/m
onth
Relative humidity
Min.
Max.
Avg.
Min.
Max.
Avg.
Jan
-2.2
11.0
04.4
33.8
139.8
38
78
59
Feb
-0.2
13.2
06.5
31.4
189.4
34
76
55
March
04.3
18.4
11.4
36.6
208.0
28
70
47
April
09.5
24.4
16.9
32.4
230.0
23
61
40
May
13.6
30.3
21.9
08.9
299.9
17
45
29
June
17.7
35.0
26.4
00.4
334.4
14
34
22
July
19.7
35.8
27.7
00.1
353.3
14
33
22
Aug
17.0
34.5
25.8
00.1
350.6
14
35
23
Sept
12.1
31.7
21.9
00.1
302.3
14
36
23
Oct
06.9
26.4
16.7
02.2
285.5
18
45
30
Nov
02.2
19.7
10.9
07.9
230.1
23
59
39
Dec
-1.1
13.3
06.1
22.1
193.4
34
73
53
176
3171.2
22.6
54
36.8
Annual
8.3
24.5
16.4
6
humidity of two regions is quit different, the relative humidity of Srinagar is rarely
below 50%, while in Birjand this parameter is recorded as low as 22%. The only
similarity which might be the most important factor for saffron growing, is the
temperature (Tables 1, 2 ). Although, Birjand’s mean maximum temperature is always
higher than Srinagar, but their trend particularly in mean minimum temperature, and
the difference between maximum and minimum temperature of two cities are nearly
similar (Fig. 1).
Table 2: Average weather conditions including average rainfall, average
maximum and average minimum daily temperature, average sunlight, relative
and humidity in Srinagar, Kashmir.
Month
Temperature
Min.
Max.
Avg.
Average
Precipitatio
n (mm)
Average
Sunlight
hours/mon
th
Relative humidity
A.M.
P.M.
Jan
-2
5
1.5
74
93
90
76
Feb
-1
7
3
71
112
88
68
March
3
14
8.5
91
124
84
57
April
7
19
13
94
180
79
52
May
11
24
17.5
61
248
71
43
June
14
29
21.5
36
240
67
40
July
18
31
24.5
58
248
73
46
Aug
18
31
24.5
61
248
78
49
Sept
12
28
20
38
240
76
43
Oct
5
22
13.5
31
248
78
48
Nov
-1
16
7.5
10
210
82
51
Dec
-2
9
3.5
33
155
88
63
6.8
19.6
13.25
658
2346
79.5
53
Annual
7
Temperature(0C)
Srinagar Min.
Birjand Min.
Birjand Max.
Srinagar Max.
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-5
Ja
n
Fe
b
ar
M
Ap
r
ay
M
g
pt
ne July
Au Se
Ju
Month of Year
ct
O
N
ov
D
ec
Fig. 2- Trend of means monthly maximum and minimum temperature of
Birjand in Iran and Srinagar in India
3- Results and Discussions
1-3- Method of Planting
In Kashmir, at the advent of spring in i.e. in late March, which lasts till April, the field
is repeatedly ploughed either by plough or twice by tractor at an interval of about 20
days. Subsequently, in August leveling and hoeing operations are done. Fields are
pulverized 3-4 times. Ideally 15-20 tones of well-decomposed farm manure per
hectare of land is applied and thoroughly mixed with into the soil before the last
tillage operation (8, 11, 18).
The field is laid out into 1.5-2 meter wide strips (normally 2-3 m long) across the field
with slopes along the sides, which end up into 30 cm wide 20 cm deep drainage
channels on both sides. These channels help in draining out the excess water. The
corms are sown 12-15cm below these raised beds at the distance of 10x20 cms. The
suitable time for sowing the corms is from last week of August till mid of September,
however, some farmers sow corms after this period as well, but the yield is not up to
the expectations (8, 11, 18).
8
In South Khorasan saffron is planted either in dry or moist beds. In traditional
systems, corms are planted in hills 25cm apart with sometimes up to 15 corms per hill
with no row arrangement. When corms are planted in rows, shallow ditches 30-35cm
apart are made by a furrower and corms are arranged in hills of 3 to 15 corms and
finally covered with soil. Flat bed planting has been reported to be advantageous
compared with furrow planting (3, 10, 14).
Since corms are dormant from April to June, lifting is recommended in June for
cultivating in the new field as soon as conditions permit. However, corms may be
stored in dry and cool stores (3 - 5 ˚C) for some time. Storing corms may reduce
flowering potential and is not recommended (6, 12, 13).
Breaking soil crust is an important operation in saffron production. This is done after
the first irrigation by harrowing or cultivator or other similar implements. Breaking
crust in the soil surface at a depth of 5-10cm, facilitate flowers to emerge (6, 11).
Since corm is the source of saffron flower, its size and health is crucial for a
productive farm. Small corms do not produce flowers in the first year (12). Corms
with more than 5g weight are capable of producing flowers in the first year. Corms
with 2.5cm diameter (6gr upward) have been recommended for planting. In South
Khorasan corms more than five g weigh are selected for planting . Those farmers who
do not care about corm size they sow 3-15 corms in each hill to cover the negative
effect of size of the corm. In one investigation in Shiraz, it was shown that corms less
than 8g were not recommended (12, 14).
In Kashmir, size of corm usually expressed as its diameter, and corms with above two
cm diameter are recommended for sowing, it is not common in Kashmir to sow more
than one corm in each hole (4, 11). Therefore, the rate of corm that sown in one unit
of land is much less than South Khorasan. For instance in one m2 of saffron farm in
South Khorasan 150-250 corm are sown, if the average corm size be five gram, more
than 10 tons per hectare of corm is needed. Kashmiri farmers sow less than half of
this amount; about 5 tones of corms are sown per hectare of land. It could be the main
reason that this farmers harvest negligible saffron flower in the first and in some areas
in the second year after sowing.
9
2-3 Irrigation System
Saffron is well adapted to the rainfall pattern of Southern Khorasan. In other words,
its growth starts with beginning of rain in fall and the vegetative growth ends by the
termination of rainfall in spring. It should be mentioned that the total average
precipitation of South Khorasan is less than 120 mm during growth season of saffron,
and evapotranspiration is much more than rainfall, therefore irrigation is a necessary
action for saffron farm. Since water requirements for other plants are low in winter,
there is no competition with saffron for irrigated water at this time. However, in south
Khorasan, initial irrigation in the fall and last irrigation in mid spring, which are the
most crucial ones for saffron flowers to emerge, are based on competition with other
crops. In such cases priority is given to saffron due to its high economic return (6, 14).
Traditionally saffron is irrigated four times during the growing season in south
Khorasan. However, to achieve high yields sufficient water is required from October
until May. Duration of initial, developmental, mid season and late season stages in
saffron is 30, 55, 105 and 30 days, respectively and estimated crop coefficient values
(Kc) for these successive stages are 0.4, 0.85 and 0.55 (14).
The saffron fields throughout Kashmir valley are naturally irrigated-rains. Farmers
have no idea of using sprinklers to irrigate their fields. They solely rely on rains. If the
rains fail the crops fail too. No effort is being taken either by the Govt. agencies or the
research centers to incite farmers to use sprinklers to increase their yield. The total
rainfall of Srinagar during saffron growth is 404 mm, but its distribution is not
regular, and usually saffron faces some water stress. Although water requirement is
low in Saffron, water stress affects the yield, growth and development (4, 8. 11).
3-3 Fertilization of Saffron Farm
In Iran cow manure with rates of 20-80 tons/ha based on the type of soil and farmers
habit, is applied to saffron. However, chemical fertilizers are used with rates of 100
kg/ha ammonium phosphate at the time of breaking the soil crust (after first irrigation
in early autumn) and 100 kg/ha urea at the time of first weeding (3, 12, 13).
10
In Kashmir, before sowing the corms, animal manure of 20 to 100 tones per hectare is
applied in autumn or winter with soil ploughing along with a second application of 5
to 6 tons per hectare of animal manure in April and May (1).
Although the result of research done by Share Kashmir University of Agricultural
Sciences indicate that in addition of application of farm manure, 40 kg N, 50 kg P 2O5
and 30 kg K2O through chemical fertilizers to restore and sustain soil fertility. In this
area the farmers only use farm manure. The growers in this region use no chemical
fertilizer (8, 11, 18). Difference and similarities in cultural practice of saffron in
Kashmir and Khorasan shows in Table 5.
4-3 Flower Picking and Drying
Harvesting saffron includes picking the flowers and separating the stigma. Picking
flowers starts as soon as they appear in the field. This is done on a daily basis because
flowers are short-lived and if they are left for a longer period, not only can they be
damaged, the quality of saffron also decreases. Picking flowers begins from October
to November in Khorasan and differs in the region according to the climate variability
and time of first irrigation. Flowering period of a field lasts for 15 to 25 days, starting
gradually and reaching a peak from the seventh to the tenth days. Flowers are picked
early in the morning and before sunrise, while in some areas this is also done in the
afternoon (5, 9, 10).
One of the main believes of South Khorasan farmers is that the saffron flower should
not see the sun and based on this tradition flowers are picked every day, early in the
morning and before sunrise, while in some areas this is also done in the afternoon (6).
In Kashmir flowers are not picked up daily, every other day, or even one time in four
day the flowers are collected. The time of flower picking will not be more than 9
o’clock in the morning. This method of flower collecting in Kashmir might caused
lost of quality as well quantity of yield (2, 9, 11).
The process of drying has great effect on the quality and the worth of the final
product. In the traditional Iranian system when the stigma and style are being
separated from the flower, it is spread in rows either on cloth or a piece of paper and
is dried in the shade. This system is not free from defects. The main defect is that it
11
takes a longer time to dry. The longer span of time increases the probability of
microorganism growth and also pollution. In the last few years this system is
gradually losing ground and electric ovens are employed. The temperature of these
ovens can be regulated from 50oc to 60oc and are equipped with particular trays on
which the silken nets are placed. In this system the saffron is kept in layers of 1-2cm
thickness for a period of 30-40 minutes and the saffron dries with the heat.
In Kashmir saffron is dried by two methods. In the first method the stigma and style
are separated from the other parts of the flower and are then placed directly under
sunlight. The sunlight takes away the moisture till the water content of stigma reaches
10-12%. In accordance with the temperature it takes 3-5 days to dry the product. In
the second method the whole flower is dried under sunlight rather than drying the
stigma and style. After that the stigma is separated from the flower by hand (2, 9, 10).
5-3 Saffron Marketing
In both Khorasan and Kashmir, saffron is not distributed through a proper channel and
marketing system. However, some steps such as establishing saffron corporations and
stock markets is promising, but their activities requires appropriate investments in
production, distribution, export and coordination among these different activities.
The authorities and policy makers also need to pay special attention to other
agricultural crops (2, 4, 6, 7).
In Khashmir whatever export is being made is only by some wholesale dealers who
buy saffron from farmers at throw away prices and then sell the same for handsome
amounts. The small farmers themselves hardly get the daily wages worth for their
produce.
In Khorasan most dried saffron is being sold to local and city buyers. Except local
retailers and sellers in production area, packing and processing companies also buy
massive amounts of saffron from the main sellers in Mashhad, Tehran, and other saffron
producing cities. After processing and packing, they export it via saffron exporters. In
the marketing chain there are some mediators and sometimes they illegally export
12
saffron to neighboring countries such as Afghanistan, or Pakistan or they may sell it to
merchants of different cities and via agents they illegally export it to Europe (13).
6-3 Flower Characteristics
There are many genetical and environmental factors affecting flower size, and ratio of
different parts in the flower, the main aim of breeders and growers are to increase the
ratio of sigma in the saffron flower. Environmental factors such as, physical and
chemical properties of the soil, time of harvesting the flowers, age of the corm, and
cultural practices can vary size of flower and stigma inside it (6, 8). The results of one
test showed the varied age of the fields had no effect on the number of flowers in a
unit weight. On average in each kilogram of fresh saffron flower of South Khorasan
there were 2173 flowers (with the coefficient of variation = 9.73%). Table 3 shows
the weight of the parts of the flower on the basis when they were fresh or dry (10).
Table 3. The average weight of the parts of the flower that comprised one
kilogram of fresh flower (29)
Stigma (g)
Style (g)
Stamen (g)
Sepal and Petal (g)
Fresh WT
47.39
28.93
(g)
59.35
864.33
Dry WT
9.48
3.26
14.78
98.36
For producing one kilogram of dry stigma (superior saffron) 105.4kg of fresh flowers
are required, which is equal to about 230,000 flowers. For producing one kg of dry
stigma and style (standard saffron) 78.5kg of fresh flowers are required, which is
equal to 170,000 flowers. By taking these results into consideration, it becomes quite
clear that in each 100g standard saffronof South Khorasan there are 25.5g of style and
74.5g of stigma. (6, 9, 10).
Our result for checking number of flower per kg, in three different regions number of
flower per kg varied between 2680 to 3840, which indicate the saffron flower of
13
Kashmir are smaller than in South Khorasan. Two reasons might be behind of these
results, first the tail of picked flower in South Khorasan are longer and it caused
heavier weight of each flower, secondly, the moisture content of Kashmir saffron is
lower than in South Khorasan because they keep for few days in the field and lost
their water content, while in flower of South Khorasan picked up early moring,every
day and the relative water content of the flower is high. Comparing the results of
Tables 3 and 4 also shows that Khorasani saffron contain 80% moisture while
Kashmiri saffron contain 68.5% water. The tests that have been done on saffron in
Kashmir, show that the parts of a fresh saffron flower contain 8% stigma, 2% style,
80% sepals and petals, 8% stamen and 2% residue while in data of table 3, South
Khorasan saffron contain about 3 % style. (8, 9).
Table 4. The average weight of one kilogram of fresh flower from different parts
of Kashmir
Region
Flowers/kg
Wet
Dry
Moisture
Khrew
2680
weight/kg
64.0
weight/kg
18.0
content (%)
71.9
(Pampore)
Charar-e-Sharif
3840
65.5
20.4
68.9
(Budgam)
Zaiwan
3328
60.0
21.2
64.7
(Pulwama)
Chadura
3004
62.0
19.6
68.4
(Pulwama)
Average
3213
62.9
19.8
68.5
7-3 Conclusion
The conclusion is that if the state Govt. does not take steps to educate farmers of the
latest developments and how these can help them to increase their yield, the future of
saffron cultivation in Kashmir is very bleak. The farmers must be encouraged to use
these new methods. There must be a Govt. body, which takes stock of the situation
and maintains a balance between growers and wholesale dealers. The dealers must, in
no way, be allowed to dictate terms to the growers. The Govt. must assure the quality
of saffron and make sure that no adulteration takes place. The general comparison of
saffron production was shown is table 5.
14
Table 5. Comparison of environmental and management practices for
saffron in Iran (Khorasan) and India (Kashmir).
Condition or practices
Kashmir
Khorasan
Altitude (m)
>1500
>1000
Relative humidity (%)
60-85
40-50
Annual precipitation (mm)
600-800
120-210
Type of soil
Lacustrine
deposits
Variable soils
(Karewas),
Soil organic content (%)
1
<1
First tillage for bed preparation
March-April
March-April
Farm manure 15-20 tone/ha
15-20
15-20
No. of corms/hill sown
Single corm
3-15
Distant between plants (cm)
15-20
12-20
No. of corms/m2 sown
40-50
150-250
Interspacing (cm)
10- 20
25-30
Sowing Depth (cm)
10- 15
15- 20
Time of sowing
20 Aug. - l mid Sept.
Mid Aug.-mid Sep.
Size of Corm
Not sorted
Not sorted
Corm planting rate (tones/ha)
5-7
10-12
Maximum age of the field (years)
5 to 20 years
7-12
Times of irrigation
Rain, no irrigation
At least 5
Flower yield in first year (kg/ha)
Almost negligible.
10-20
Flower yield in second year (kg/ha)
10-20
30-40
Flower yield in third year (kg/ha)
40-50
120-170
Flower yield, third to eight year (kg/ha)
80-150
150-250
Average flower yield (kg/ha/year)
100
175
Chemical fertilizers
Almost none
Uria 100,
Amonium
Phosphate 100 kg/ha
Pests
Mouse
Mouse & other rodents
Duration of flowering
20th Oct. -10th Nov.
20th Oct.-10th Nov.
Interval of flower picking (once/days)
3-4
Every day
15
Condition or practices
Kashmir
Khorasan
Time of flower picking in the day
9 AM-6PM
6 AM- 10 AM
Means of flower picking
By hand
By hand
Flower transportation
In baskets
In bags
Separation of flowers
With hand
With hand
Mean yield (kg/ha)
3.2
4.7
Marketable part
Stigma itself
Stigma, fresh flower
Number of flower/kg
2700-3000
2200- 2500
Moisture content at harvesting (%)
70
80
Final moisture content (%)
Nearly 8-10
Nearly 7
Labor cost/day (US $)
2-3
3-5
Local price (US$/kg)
580
350
Quality control
No
control
government
Soil Utilization after saffron
by
Controlled
by
or
Governmental
associations
associations
Vacant or some crops
Wheat, barley
and
like mustard, pulses
Age of fields (years)
8-20
7 to 12
Method of drying
Under open sunlight.
Shade, oven
Storing method
Earthen
Canister,
vessels,
polythene
canisters or polythene
bags, glass containers,
bags
or cloth inside the
wooden boxes
Five main destinations for export
Spain, France, USA,
UAE,
UK, UAE
France, Switzerland
16
Spain,
Italy,
4- References
1- Ganai, M.R. 2001. Nutrient status of saffron soils and their management. Seminarcum- Workshop on the Development of Saffron, Srinagar-India.
2- Ghani. M. Y. 2001. Post harvest handling & processing of saffron. Seminar- cumWorkshop on the Development of Saffron
3- Gharaii, H. A. and M. Beygi. 1991. Evaluation of physicochemical and mineralogy
of soils in Saffron growing areas of Estahban. Scientific and Research Organization of
Iran Shiraz Institute, annual report.
4- Hassan, Badrul and M. H. Shah. 2001. Increased sustainability & yield of saffron
in Kashmir. Seminar-cum- Workshop on the Development of Saffron, Srinagar-India.
5- Ingram. J. S. 1984. Saffron (Crous sativus L.) Tropical Science. 11:1771-1774.
6- Kafi, M., A. Koocheki, M. H. Rashed Mohassel, M, Nassiri. 2006. Saffron,
production and processing. Science Publishers, New Hampshire, USA
7- Kannan, S. 2001. Current status of saffron production & export in the world.
Seminar-cum- Workshop on the Development of Saffron, Srinagar-India.
8- Mir, G. M. 1992. Saffron agronomy in Kashmir. Gulshan Publishers, SrinagarIndia.
9- Mir, M. A. 2001. Post harvest and processing of saffron. Seminar-cum- Workshop
on the Development of Saffron, Srinagar-India.
10- Molafilabi, A. 1994. Study of the Flower Components of saffron-Proceedings of
Second National Congress on saffron & Medicinal Plants. Scientific & Industrial
Research organization of Iran, Khorasan Institute (Persian).
11- Munshi, A. M; S. A. Wani, and G. M. Tak. 2001. Improved cultivation practices
for saffron. Seminar-cum- Workshop on the Development of Saffron, Srinagar-India.
12- Sadeghi, B. 1983. Effects of corm weight on flower initiation of Saffron.
Scientific and Research Organization of Iran. Khorasan Institute, annual report.
17
13- Shahandeh, H. 1990. Evaluation of physico-chemical characters of soil and water
for Saffron production in South Khorasan. Scientific and Industerial Research
Organization of Iran Khorasan Institute, annual report.
14- shirmohamadi, A. and Z. AliakbarKhani. 2002. Effects of methods and number of
irrigations on Leaf Area Index, canopy temperature and yield of Saffron. MSc. Thesis,
Shiraz University.
15- Statistics and Information Center of Ministry of Jehad e Keshavarzi.2002. Saffron
production in Iran. Report No. 12.
16- www.Botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/saffro03.html
17- www.jammukashmir.nic.in/profile/facts.htm
18- Zargar, G.H.2001. Genetic variation in saffron & importance of quality seed
corms. Seminar-cum- Workshop on the Development of Saffron, Srinagar-India.
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