By Faiza Tehseen ISLAMABAD, Feb 28 (INP-WealthPK): Red gold or saffron’s cultivation is considered a highly profitable business all over the world. Orginating from South Asia, saffron was cultivated only in Kashmir and Iran in yesteryear. However, invading mangols took saffron plant to other regions. Nowdays, saffron from Iran, India, Brazil, Spain, Oakland and the Netherlands is famous worldwide. At least 2.50 tonnes of the expensive spice is harvested annually with Iran fulfilling 90% of the international demand. The dried stigma of saffron flower keeps its natural taste and aroma for almost two years. The product is traded in multiple forms like thread (dried stigma), powder and liquid, and is used in multipal industrial sectors e.g.,  pharmaceutical, dietry supplements, skincare and cosmetics, fragrance and aroma therapy, food products. Flowering age of saffron is only three to four days with each flower bearing only three stigmas, with the dried stigma being called saffron. And 300,000 to 400,000 bulbs are required to cultivate an area of one acre. Approximately 250 grams saffron stigma is gained from 70,000 to 80,000 flowers. In 2019, the market size of saffron valued at approximately $881.7 million, which is expexted to reach $1.549 billion by 2027 with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3%. In Pakistani market, the product’s price ranges from Rs500 to Rs600 per gram, and from Rs500,000 Rs1,000,000 per kilogramme. Pakistan exports saffron under HS code 0910.2000 with the country’s total exports in 2020 standing at $.025 million, far less than its exports worth $1.7324 million in 2019. To boost its exports, the country has taken a number of steps to expand the cultivation areas of saffron. According to Pakistan Agricultural Research Council  (PARC), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Murree, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and mountanious districts of Balochistan are suitable for saffron cultivation. In this respect, the PARC has introduced cultivation of saffron in Mastung district of Balochistan after bringing saffron bulbs from Spain. Besides, the Balochistan’s Agricultural Research and Development Centre is also playing a vital role in spreading the cultivation area of Spanish saffron. A substation of PARC, named Mountain Agricultural Research Centre in Skardu, had started initial trials on saffron cultivation in 1982. The saffron cultivation does not need much irrigation and just moistured land is enough for its plantation. It can grow well in calcareous soil, while silty and sandy soils enriched with organic matter can also be favourable as well. Saffron grows in temperatures below 40 degree Celsius in summers and up to 15 degree Celsius in winters. A Saffron corm (bulb) generates at least five more corms after three years. The price of saffron bulbs varies according to size and weight from Rs50 to Rs200. The government has also taken an initiative to cultivate saffron in Drosh town of Lower Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is expected that by utilising about 90,000 acres of land available in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the government will generate a hefty foreign exchange through the product’s exports. In this regard, the authorities are incentivising the farmers to grow saffron on a large scale to improve their financial resources. The KP and Baluchistan provinces are suitable for saffron cultivation because their climate and easy availability of workforce as saffron cultivation and processing are labour-intensive. The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) is also actively promoting saffron cultivation by organising training sessions with the farmers in potential areas. Saffron cultivation in Pakistan can be made more sustainable if the government provides saffron bulbs to farmers at subsidised rates, extends soft-term loans to them and also insures their crops against any damage.