Saffron cultivation hits record high in Afghanistan

Saffron cultivation in Afghanistan has risen to record levels in 2016, with a 250-percent increase compared to last year, the Government Media and Information Center (GMIC) said on Monday.

"Saffron cultivated areas have been increased by 250 percent reaching to 2,811 hectares of land across the country. The coverage areas from the past 15 years were 1,020 hectares. This year alone 1,791 hectares new land has been cultivated saffron," GMIC said in a statement.

The saffron cultivation has expanded to 31 of the country's 34 provinces from only one province a few years ago, the statement noted.

The government has been encouraging farmers to switch from growing illicit opium poppies for drugs to saffron and turn the land-locked Afghanistan into a poppy-free country.

The government was determined "to assist Afghan farmers by providing financial support, machinery, cold storage, seeds, training and new processing methods, all of which will pave the way for Afghan farmers to export their products outside Afghanistan."

The growing of opium poppies and their byproducts have been on a constant rise since the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001. The country produced 4,800 tons of opium this year.

In 2016, about 6 tons of saffron was produced across against 3.5 tons last year, according to the statement.

Afghan saffron in terms of quality has been named as the world's "best saffron" by the International Taste and Quality Institute in Brussels earlier this year.

In local Afghan markets, 1 kg of saffron is priced at 25,000 afghanis (375 U.S. dollars) to 110,000 afghanis (1,654 U.S. dollars) depending on the quality of the saffron, according to officials. Endit