May Azerbaijan be rival for main producers of 'Red Gold'?

By Azernews

By Aygul Salmanova  

Azerbaijan is one of the oldest centers of saffron in the world. Written sources claim that in some regions of the country this valuable and expensive spice was cultivated more than a thousand years ago.

The small village of Bilgah on the Absheron peninsula still preserves the tradition of growing this miraculous plant. Saffron, grown in this area is not inferior to any world brand and with proper storage does not lose quality for very long years.

Before 1917, some 150 acres had been allocated for the production of saffron and its export put Azerbaijan in a significant place in world markets.

In the Middle Ages, Azerbaijan exported about 16 tons of dry saffron to the markets of Russia and Europe. But with the development of the oil sector in Absheron, the share of saffron and other plants has steadily declined. Oil production in the 19-20th centuries caused irreparable harm to the ecology of the peninsula, the fertile lands filled with oil have not recovered to this day.

Today Azerbaijan, which cannot meet domestic needs for this product, purchases the king of spices, from neighboring Iran, with 90 percent share of saffron from the world production. All saffron, being sold in the capital's supermarkets, is produced in Iran, which in quality lags behind the local saffron.

Absheron saffron has not entered the world markets yet. First of all, due to the fact that this product is not produced in sufficient quantity and does not have its own brand. Now only farmers are engaged in the production of saffron in the country.

The annual increase in saffron prices in international sales markets has forced scientists from the Ministry's Agrarian Science Center to direct their research to the revival of Azerbaijani saffron, according to Jalal Mammadov, Director of the Absheron Subtropical Plant Practice Station of the Agriculture Ministry.

Mammadov noted that there is a need for saffron production in Azerbaijan: "Saffron production in the Soviet period was especially developed in Baku and its villages. The potential of this field is still actual. As far as I know, these traditions remain, though small in Baku. A few individuals are engaged in the sale of saffron. However, measures should be taken to raise it to the state level and to cover larger areas.”

Due to the fact that the investments of the state in agriculture, the emergence of new areas, and the creation of the agricultural sector's processing industry are included to the state priorities, it is expected that further steps will be taken in the development of the production of saffron.

This aromatic spice is sufficiently widely used in the Azerbaijani cuisine, and experts believe in case of increasing the output of the product, no problems is expected with demand inside the country.

Head of the Center for Sustainable Development Studies Nariman Agayev told Echo.az that Azerbaijan needs at least 4-5 years to ensure itself with this product, noting that the country can increase the production level up to 5-10 tons per year.

Today one gram of saffron in the Azerbaijani market costs 10 manats ($5.8), while the same amount in world markets stands at $20-25. Simple calculations indicate that only one ton of saffron would bring Azerbaijan about $25 million.

Baltic countries and in Italy are interested in Azerbaijan saffron, according to Agayev, who claims the product may bring million to the country’s economy.

The spice is among the most valuable and rarest spices, the price of which has remained very high for thousands of years. Most varieties of saffron, as a very rare plant and a plant the offspring of which are disappearing, were included in the Red Book of the former USSR and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

A wild variety of saffron grows in natural conditions in the Ganja-Gazakh region, Guba-Khachmaz region, Shamakhi, Lerik, Absheron, Nakhchivan AR and other areas.

The high price of saffron is explained by two reasons. Firstly, its production is very labor-intensive, and secondly, the aroma, taste and medicinal properties have no equal among other pices.

From each corms there can be derived 2-3 or more flowers of light-violet color with dark branching veins. The collection of freshly blooming flowers, which occurs in October-November, is carried out manually, early in the morning, by gently separating the stigma.

To collect one kilogram of dry saffron it is required to procure 300,000 flowers. They are dried in the shade at a temperature of 18-22 ° C and then stored in a sealed glass container. If these rules are observed, saffron does not lose its valuable quality within 10-15 years.

The last few years, Afghanistan steadily promotes its saffron in the spice market. Since 2012, Afghan saffron takes first place at traditional international exhibitions in Europe.  

Europe also produces saffron. Greece, Italy, France, and Portugal are among its major producers with Spain, leading in the cultivation of saffron on the European continent. In small quantities, saffron is produced in the Swiss mountain village of Mund. The quality is excellent, but they produce only 3-4 kilograms of product per year.