Tehran, YJC. Official says Khalilabad, Razavi Khorasan harvests 15 tons per hectare saffron.
Director of Khalilabad, Razavi Khorasan Agriculture Jihad in
interview with Tasnim news agency pointed to the county’s saffron as its major
agricultural product and said "The product is planted in July and August each
year in 4 thousand hectares of Khalilabad lands.”
Ali Nasiri added "Although saffron is a health plant with
tens of health benefits, it is currently used in Iran only as a seasoning.”
He maintained that lack of an international brand for the
product is one of the major shortcomings for the county’s saffron product and
maintained that the real price of the saffron is much higher than its current
one.
Nasiri also stated that pomegranate is the second popular
horticultural product in the area.
Khalilabad has 1140 hectares of land under pomegranate,
mostly centralized on the county’s center, Rostaq, Neqab and Mirabad.
He added that the area’s pomegranate harvest has lowered as
much as 40 percent this year which he attributed to frost, early rains, and
strong winds which plucked the flowers.
"The product is being exported to Persian Gulf littoral
states, South Korea, and Japan,” he maintained.