Increasing cultivation of saffron in Sari city in Iran

Increasing cultivation of saffron in Sari city in Iran was a 2019 report on a citywide training and crop-diversification programme. It said 80,000 square metres of sloping, low-yield land had been assigned to saffron, 2.5 times the previous year’s area, while 90 growers received instruction during the first ten months of the year.

The 2019 Sari cultivation programme

The report quoted Reza Pourfollah, director of Sari’s Agricultural Jihad organisation. He emphasised farmer education and practical skill, saying 90 agricultural operators had received training in saffron and medicinal-plant cultivation during the first ten months of the year.

“Operators” is a literal translation of a term commonly used for growers or farm beneficiaries. The article does not show whether all 90 trainees planted saffron, completed the course or managed separate farms.

Pourfollah linked the programme to changing rainfall and water availability. Medicinal plants with a comparatively modest water requirement had been placed on the agricultural production agenda, with saffron presented as one priority crop.

How much land was involved?

The reported area was 80,000 square metres, equal to eight hectares. It consisted of sloping or low-yield agricultural land in Sari.

The article said this was 2.5 times the previous year’s area. If both figures were measured on the same basis, the implied earlier area would be 32,000 square metres, or 3.2 hectares. That is a calculation from the stated ratio, not a separately reported value.

The source does not say how much of the eight hectares was newly planted, mature or harvested. An increase in allocated area is not automatically the same as an increase in dry saffron production.

Why Sari needs field-specific cultivation advice

Sari’s climate and topography vary. A field on the Caspian plain is not the same as an upland plot. Soil depth, slope, drainage, autumn temperature and access can change over a short distance.

Saffron’s summer dormancy can make it interesting in some crop systems, but the plant still needs moisture at the right stages. In wetter places, excess water and poor drainage may be as important as irrigation supply. “Lower water requirement” should never be translated into “no water requirement.”

Before expansion, a small trial should record rainfall, any irrigation, corm source, planting density, emergence, flower count, disease or rodent damage, labour and dry yield. Those records tell a grower whether the field works, rather than relying on a general recommendation for the city.

What useful saffron training should cover

Pourfollah said weak information and insufficient understanding of saffron cultivation had limited satisfactory results. He proposed raising farmers’ scientific and practical knowledge through classes and technical advice.

A useful programme should connect each lesson to a decision the grower will make:

• selecting sound, correctly identified corms and keeping lots separate;
• checking soil depth, drainage and previous field problems;
• choosing a planting layout that can be weeded and harvested;
• recording rainfall and irrigation instead of relying on a fixed schedule;
• monitoring weeds, rodents and corm health before choosing a control;
• collecting flowers promptly and separating stigmas hygienically; and
• drying, identifying and storing each lot consistently.

Our saffron corm selection guide explains the planting-material checks that should come before a farmer expands a field.

Pesticides and biological fertilisers are not substitutes

The original translation said chemical pesticides should be avoided and replaced with biological fertilisers. These products perform different jobs. A fertiliser supplies or supports plant nutrition; it does not directly replace a pesticide used for a diagnosed pest or disease.

The safer approach is prevention and monitoring. Healthy corms, suitable drainage, field hygiene and early identification can reduce avoidable problems. If intervention is needed, the grower should identify the cause and use a lawful, crop-appropriate method rather than treating every problem routinely.

Fertiliser decisions should also follow soil and crop evidence. “Biological” does not automatically mean necessary, effective or risk-free, just as “chemical” does not describe whether a product is appropriate.

Small plots can be an advantage

Pourfollah included cultivation at very small scales among the programme’s development options. For a new crop, that can be sensible. A grower learns the flowering period, labour demand and field response without committing a large area.

A trial only becomes useful when its result is measured. Planted square metres should be recorded separately from productive square metres. The final dry saffron weight, labour hours, losses and selling price allow the farmer to compare saffron with the previous use of the land.

From cultivation to a saleable lot

Training cannot end at planting. Saffron flowers arrive over a short period and should be collected and handled promptly. Stigmas need clean separation, controlled drying and protection from moisture and contamination.

ISO 21983:2019 gives current guidance for harvesting, flower transport, stigma separation, drying and storage before packing. ISO 3632-1:2025 specifies requirements for dried saffron in filament, cut-filament and powder forms.

Keeping a field and harvest code with each lot lets advisers connect product results back to soil, corm and handling decisions. That feedback is more valuable than a one-time description of local saffron as desirable.

How Sari should measure expansion

A later review should report how many of the 90 trainees established fields, how much of the eight hectares reached productive age, dry yield, water used, labour, quality results and farmer return. It should also record plots that failed and why.

The 2019 increase showed interest in saffron cultivation in Sari city in Iran. Its long-term value depends on something less dramatic than a 2.5-times area headline: careful field selection, practical training and honest comparison of results over several seasons.