Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT News
KABUL: Daikondi province in the central mountainous area is considered second for the saffron cultivation, according provincial officials who said that 40 acres of lands are under the valuable plant cultivation in six districts of the province.
Sayed Abdul Wahab Ferozi, head of provincial department of agriculture, said Wednesday that Daikondi’s saffron was seen best after Herat province in the past five years, and hundreds of farmers are expected to support the program of saffron cultivation.
According to Ferozi, the government distributed 19 metric tons of saffron onion to the farmers in six districts of Daikondi in the current year.
He said that the income of saffron was much better than the poppy cultivation.
100 kilograms of saffron was harvested last year in Daikondi, according to Ferozi.
Farmers in the province ask for government support in providing them with the saffron onion, marketing and modern technology to dry up the plant, so that they could continue saffron cultivation.
The provincial agriculture department says that women played the most important role in saffron cultivation.
Fatema Mousavi has cultivated saffron in two acres of her private lands with the help of a Chinese company.
Saffron is one of valuable products in Afghanistan mostly cultivated in Herat province in the west. Farmers in other areas have recently tried to replace other things especially poppy with saffron.
Officials in Daikondi promised to provide more saffron onion to the farmers particularly to women farmers.
