Harvesting 319 kg of saffron in Lorestan was reported from 96.8 hectares of cultivated land in 2020, according to Mehrdad Ghazanfari Amrayi, then head of the province’s Agricultural Jihad organization.

Saffron harvest being weighed beside a Lorestan field
Fresh saffron is weighed beside a Lorestan field

The announcement offers a compact view of Lorestan’s saffron sector at that time. Alongside the provincial harvest, it identified the main growing counties, described expected yields and outlined a working-capital programme for farmers.

The land and harvest figures reported for Lorestan

Ghazanfari Amrayi said approximately 96.8 hectares of agricultural land in Lorestan had been allocated to saffron. The harvest from that area was reported as 319 kilograms.

Keeping the two figures together matters. The 319 kg total describes output from the stated 96.8-hectare area; it is not a per-hectare yield and should not be read as production from a single farm.

Average saffron yield of 3 to 5 kg per hectare

The provincial average was placed between 3 and 5 kilograms per hectare. Dividing the reported harvest by the reported area gives roughly 3.3 kilograms per hectare, which sits within that range.

This simple comparison helps the figures make sense, but it does not show that every field produced the same amount. Farm age, corm condition, soil, water, weather, labour and harvest timing can all differ across a province; the original account did not provide farm-level results.

Lorestan’s main saffron-growing counties

Khorramabad, Kuhdasht and Aligudarz were named as the counties with the largest areas under saffron cultivation in Lorestan. The report did not divide the 96.8 hectares or 319 kg harvest among those counties, so no county-by-county share can be calculated from it.

What it does establish is the geographic centre of the activity described at the time. The crop was not presented as being spread evenly across the province.

Working-capital support for 150 saffron farmers

Ghazanfari Amrayi also said 150 saffron farmers had been introduced to the Agricultural Bank for working-capital facilities. The stated level of support was 125 million rials per hectare.

The wording is important: farmers had been referred to the bank to receive facilities. The report did not say that every applicant had already received funding, nor did it publish a total amount disbursed.

What the 319 kg figure tells us

  • 96.8 hectares was the approximate saffron area reported in Lorestan.
  • 319 kilograms was the harvest announced from that area.
  • 3 to 5 kilograms per hectare was the stated provincial yield range.
  • Khorramabad, Kuhdasht and Aligudarz had the largest cultivation areas.
  • 150 farmers had been referred for working-capital facilities of 125 million rials per hectare.

A historical snapshot, not a current forecast

These figures belong to the 2020 announcement. They record what Lorestan officials said about the cultivated area, harvest and farmer-support programme during that reporting period.

A current assessment would require a newer provincial source using the same definitions. Preserving the date makes the article useful without turning an older harvest report into a claim about Lorestan’s saffron production today.