A SCENT OF SAFFRON

The decline in oil revenues and the need to seek for new sources of replenishment of the state budget further necessitate the implementation of projects to revive once popular and profitable areas of production in Azerbaijan. More attention is paid to specific areas of agriculture. Among other crops, the cultivation and processing of which may well increase the state incomes, the saffron, or crocus, is considered the “golden spice”.

A flower from the Quran

Believed to be the King of Spices due to its miraculous properties, the saffron has been grown in Azerbaijan since the ancient times. It is even mentioned in the Holy Quran. According to experts, saffron gives us strength and courage, rejuvenates, purifies our bodies, and tones them up. This noble spice is righteously called a “golden spice”. Even in our colloquial speech, we use the term “expensive as saffron”. This is true, indeed. One gram of saffron costs the same as gold while the kilogram can cost you up to $6,000. This is due to its labor-intensive cultivation and harvesting technology. To produce 1 kg of dry saffron, one needs to collect about 2 thousand pieces of this highly valuable flower. At the end of the first year of cultivation, a hectare of plantation yields only six kilograms of saffron and reaches 20 kg in the second year. The crop is usually harvested during the flowering season under the sun. The bright orange stigmas are manually cut as soon as the buds burst, followed by drying.

There are 75 species of crocus, of which 12 grow in the Caucasus and 6 - in Azerbaijan. It is commonly known as crocus saffron, the Caspian crocus, Adam, the Artvin crocus, crocus the beautiful, crocus versicolor. Most of the species have been included to the Red Book of the former Soviet Union and Azerbaijan. The crocus versicolor is endemic to the flora of our country. Crocus saffron is grown in in Absheron only while the wild species grow in Ganja-Gazakh and Guba-Khachmaz economic regions, Nakhchivan, Jalilabad, Lerik, Shamakhi, as well as in the districts of Aran economic region - Ujar, Aghjabadi , Jalilabad, and Masalli.

However, the high-quality plant is grown only in Absheron since the climate and soil are ideal here. Crocus avoids excess moisture - heavy rains may rotten the bulbs. Normally, the plants are irrigated in autumn, which is a long-standing tradition in the Absheron village of Bilgah. Here crocus feels the best and obtains its high quality and the healing properties it is famous for, such as the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

“The scent of saffron is one of its most important indicators of quality, because you check the freshness of any product smelling it first,” says the agronomist Rovshan Aliyev. According to him, it is globally accepted that saffron is usable within 2-3 years after production; after this period, it usually loses its smell and taste, like the saffron from Iran. At the same time, the producers from Bilgah traditionally preserve the crocus in a normal tracing paper for years but it still holds its quality and flavor.

Can saffron from Bilgah disappear?

Back in the Soviet times, there was a collective farm, where the crocus had been actively cultivated. The production volumes reached 150-200 kg per year. It was exported internationally and the generated income returned to the country as currency. With the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the implementation of agrarian reforms, the situation has changed radically, the production reached the lowest levels. After the closing of the collective farm, only a few people had cultivated this high-value product but they, of course, could not reach the previous production rates and volumes. Some private entrepreneurs have attempted to revive this agricultural sector but they abandoned these efforts since it required more time to gain profit compared to other areas. The results were quite depressing: the industry was forgotten completely. Today, the saffron is cultivated in the village by a few men who really know the value of this plant. But they have a lot of difficulties and are motivated only thanks to their own enthusiasm and the desire to preserve the culture of growing saffron for future generations. Due to financial problems, they cannot access the markets in order to expand the areas of ​​cultivation.

The National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support (NFES) under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy has repeatedly stated its support to the development of industry in Bilgah. However, due to some conditions and despite government concessions, the farmers cannot revive the industry properly. “I wanted to get a loan to develop crocus cultivation but I have already to return the loan starting this month”, says one of the local farmers. “One needs to understand that I must first grow the plant and sell it on the market to return the loan. It is a unique plant in a sense that it does not yield in the first year, you have to wait. But the commercial banks, which disburse NFES loans, do not want to understand this”.

As noted above, the crocus is also cultivated in other regions of Azerbaijan, such as dryland areas in the foothill villages of Jalilabad. Unlike the Bilgah crocus, this plant has prickles and additional forces from nearby villages are involved in its collection. The crop is usually harvested in the morning, when the dew is still on the plants, trying to be careful so as not to prick. Then the orange stamens are removed from the plant. A hectare of cultivated land yields about 1500-2000 kgs of saffron. After harvesting, the crop is dried and sold at local markets for 20-30 manats per kilogram. A kilogram of seeds sells for 2-3 manat. However, it is a completely different type of saffron: the housewives usually use it for cooking pilaf or for making soft drinks.

This type of crocus is mostly cultivated in Agdash, Sheki, Balaken, and Zagatala regions of the country. It is easily reprocessed and is used in the production of curcuma or as a spice in cooking homemade dishes.

Heavy price

Speaking of the high price of saffron, it varies from $5 to $40 per gram in world markets, depending on the quality and the sales region. A gram of Azerbaijani saffron in the Russian market costs $7-10 while a kilogram of bulbs can be sold for $700-790. On the other hand, saffron is also a rare product: the overall world supply volume is only 300 tons per year. All attempts to increase the production volumes yield no results, primarily because crocus is still cultivated manually.

Iran holds the leadership in crocus cultivation and supplies almost 90% of the world saffron market. Every year 200-250 tons of dried saffron is exported to the spice markets from Iran, which brings huge profits to the state's economy. Iran has nurtured and preserved the cultivation technology of crocus for years. There is a museum of saffron, as well as dozens of websites and markets where you can buy the products of various manufacturers. There is even a plant in Khorasan, which is built for processing and drying of saffron.

Saffron is also cultivated in Morocco, Pakistan, China, India, Greece, France, and Italy. However, the Spanish saffron regarded for its high quality, rich aroma and taste, has a special prominence. It is noteworthy that the Spanish saffron and the one grown in Bilgah are almost identical in quality. However, according to experts, the Bilgah saffron is, by large, considered higher in quality than its Spnish counterpart. A yearly production of 5-10 tons of saffron can get Azerbaijan $5-10 million. So, all these factors add to the potential of reviving the cultivation of this miracle plant.