KABUL - The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock has said the harvest of “red gold” saffron this year topped the 21 ton mark.
According to the ministry, Herat, Balkh, Faryab, Kunduz, Farah and Daikundi are now the top saffron producing provinces in the country.
“In the 1399 solar year, about 7,900 hectares of saffron land was cultivated. Of this, 7,317 hectares of land in Herat province was planted with saffron, while all the other provinces combined used less than 500 hectares,” Akbar Rustami, the ministry’s spokesman said.
The ministry says that conditions in Herat are particularly favorable in terms of growing Crocus sativus, the flower that produces the saffron stigmas.
Being a sought after and expensive agricultural product, more and more farmers have started farming this plant in recent years, the ministry said.
The ministry also stated that agricultural experts are working to enhance the plant in order to improve its yield.
According to the spokesman of the Ministry of Agriculture, this solar year has seen the ministry focus on distributing farming equipment to the saffron sector and also on establishing farms used as examples to promote the sector.
Rustami said the ministry intends to continue working to develop the saffron sector through 1400, the next solar year. (ATN)