Can saffron be cultivated in Zanjan farms?

A doctoral student at Zanjan University said:
The soil of many areas of Zanjan province has a good capacity for saffron production.

Fatemeh Heydari stated:
Restriction of water resources in all regions of the country, including Zanjan province,
is a limiting factor in the cultivation of irrigated crops and stimulants for saffron planting by Zanjan farmers.
Meanwhile, saffron planting project in the research farm of Zanjan University shows acceptable performance
and saffron growers in this area can enjoy good economic benefits in terms of cultivation.

He continued:
Therefore, in areas suffering from drought,
the crop is very valuable and can be a good alternative to water-rich, harmful and uneconomical crops.

Emphasizing that the public perception of planting saffron in the eastern regions of the country is wrong, Heydari added:
Zanjan farmers can harvest saffron onions once for seven consecutive years, while saffron onions grow more every year.
It has been producing a harvestable product since last year.

This doctoral student at Zanjan University stated:
Currently, in addition to the planting test, the evaluation of the results of foliar application on stigma and flower yield,
as well as the percentage increase in onion production has been studied and fortunately shows good results.
In fact, increasing onion production is also very important,
because the farmer in the seventh year can sell onions in addition to stigma harvest.

Heidari pointed out that in today’s market, each kilo of onion costs 50,000 Rials, noting:
Fortunately, saffron is a product that delivers two to three onions to the farmer at the end of the seventh year,instead of each onion planted.
However, the effects of gibberellic acid and salicylic acid solutions, as well as paclobutrazole and psychocell should be evaluated.