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Ghaffar Hamidzay
Ghaffar Hamidzay, founder of Afghan Saffron, stands in a field of the plant before harvest.
Published at 11:50 a.m. ET: Afghan exports of pricey saffron jumped by 14 percent in 2012, with the crops squeezing out opium poppy production in parts of the war-torn country, according to government statistics.
In the Western province of Herat, 90 percent of the former poppy farmers have switched to growing the pungent and yellow spice, according to the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics.
Saffron has helped turned Ghaffar Hamidzay, 28, into a successful businessman, with his exports ballooning since he set up Afghan Saffron in 2001 after the fall of the Taliban.
“In the beginning, we exported 50 to 60 kilos (110 to 132 pounds) a year. Now we export 1.5 to 2 tons,” said the owner of Afghan Saffron, which now employs 5,000 people. “When we first started the business, saffron sold for $200 to $250 per kilo. Today it is worth $1,500 to $1,600 per kilo.”
The jump in saffron cultivation comes amid a concerted effort on the part of the government to cajole and force farmers to replace their opium crops. Still, Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s opium, and much of the revenue from that goes to fund the Taliban.
Majid Saeedi / Getty Images, file
A woman holds a stigma of crocus during the saffron harvest near the village of Goriyan in Herat in western Afghanistan.
Saffron has also proved a boost for smaller farmers such as Abdul Hassib, 35, who until recently planted poppy in his farm in Gozara, Herat.
“I used to sell [my saffron crop] for 70,000 Afghanis ($1,400) per kilo,” said the father of nine. “Now I sell it for 100,000 Afghanis ($2,000).”
One reason for the switch was that poppy is a lot harder to grow, Hassib said. Besides, he makes more money from saffron, he added.
Related: Photos: Saffron replacing heroin?
As a comparison, a policeman in Afghanistan earns around $150 a month.
While saffron production is booming, problems still dog the nascent industry.
“We are trying our best to make Herat poppy-free, but we have a lot of problems with neighboring countries,” said Zabullah Dayen, an adviser at the Ministry of Counter Narcotics, referring to neighboring Iran, which is the world’s leading saffron exporter.
Many of Afghanistan’s saffron producers believe neighboring Iran -- one of the world's leading producers of the spice -- is trying to destabilize their market to crush competition.
Farmers switching to saffron from poppy are also not very popular with the Taliban. According to local reports saffron farmers have been threatened and told to switch back.
However in Herat, Hamidzay said he’s had no complaints of harassment. The province is relatively stable compared with Helmand and Uruzgan in the south, where much of the country’s poppy is grown.
“I’d like to request the Ministry of Counter Narcotics to do more work to convince farmers in those provinces to cultivate saffron instead,” he said.
Afghanistan could be well on its way to fulfilling the wishes of Hamidzay and other saffron farmers. In 2011, the United States spent $1.4 million buying Afghan saffron, more than any other Afghan export, according to the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
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It's Castilla-La-Mancha (Spain) for me as far as saffron: best in the world for hundreds of years. I wouldn't trust my paella to anything else!
Wow, when I take up basket weaving, and scented candle making up I will keep that in mind.
sing it...i'm just mad about saffron...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrbni0tVBZ8
"Still, Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s opium, and much of the revenue from that goes to fund the Taliban."
This is how holy Islamic warriors make their fundings!
It appears that under Islamic rules everything is topsy-turvy just like their writings.
AlextheBlade,Why is that?It is used for the yellow coloring.It is flavorless.
To Just a cleaning lady: Saffron has a very strong, distinctive flavor. If you've had genuine saffron and it had no flavor, it was either very old, or very poor quality.
$1.4 million in saffron sales to the US? I would wager the poppy crop brings in $100+ million from end product users in the US.
Return for billions poured and thousands of soldiers injured and dead!
Bring our troops home.
Glad to hear that farmers in Afghanistan now have a alternative to poppies that they can still make a decent living from growing.
Not surprised.
I'm just mad about it. ;)
me too...some of the others...can hardly wait for the electrical banana...
what do you do with saffron? at 2 grand a pound, seems like it is worth its weight in gold.
George, It's an over rated spice, doesn't taste like anything to me.
George, your math is slightly (being nice) off....
First off, it's $2k a kilo, which is 2.2 pounds... secondly, a kilo of gold is currently worth about, $58,836.80
The price of saffron doesn't have to do with it's taste, but the fact that there is not a lot of it in circulation.
But you can sure tell if it's an omitted ingredient from some dishes. It has a subtle flavor. Maybe your palate just can't discern it. It's also not a spice where more is going to enhance the flavor. All you need is a smidgen.
And to answer George, it's used in paella, rice and quite a few Indian dishes.
Saffron and Basmatti rice is a great dish. Subtle flavor.
Saffron has no flavor.It is used for the yellow coloring in dishes.Each plant only produces only 3 stamens and that is why it is so costly.
There ya go, opium's on the way out now. Victory! Viva la free market! Viva la difference!
The only reason that the opium is on 'the way out' is that it is on the way to market
It is great To See Ghaffar get some exposure for his work developing this enterprise. I have bought and sold his Saffron over the years and have found his A- Grade to be as fine as any Saffron from other sources.
Its price sounds prohibitive to use, but as others have mentioned a little goes a long way.
Saffron adds a delicate background to many dishes
The reason for the price is the labor involved in the process. Each flower is picked by hand, as well as the stamen (Saffron) is removed by hand as well. It takes 3,300 flowers to produce an ounce of Saffron
Most Iranian Saffron is bought by Spanish Saffron buyers and sold under a Spanish label
Mellow Yellow Spice,Great comments.I commend this man for starting us this enterprise.
I hope it gives Afghan farmers an option other than the Taliban. God speed 'em on their way with saffron and pomengranates, and in the mineral front; rare earth metals, copper and emeralds.
After "responsible end" by withdrawal of NATO forces, you will not read these types of news items either.
During last days before Iraqi withdrawal, there are many fantasy based stories. Do you read them any more?
Paki sponsored Taliban will be back with full force in Afghanistan and will make up for their "lost years" of "cleaning" Afghanistan, Pakistan and world!
Unfortunately this article was not vetted by an aggie with Afghan experience. There are many many crops and livestock undertakings that would be more profitable than opium if markets and roads were open and if there were not men with big guns telling people what to grow. The reason opium is expensive to produce is that it is labor intensive and labor is currently expensive in Afghanistan. Saffron, along with pomegranate and wheat, have been promoted for several years as alternatives to opium. Of these, saffron is the most easily criticized. While saffron will produce income for farmers, saffron and opium grow on different kinds of soils and use labor at different times of the year. If one had the acreage and wanted to do it, saffron and opium could both be planted in a single year and there will be no labor stress at harvest time. Also, saffron is mostly planted in western Afghanistan and the most intensive opium production is in the south.
Some 40-50% of Afghan opium is produced in Helmand, home of the largest irrigation system in the country built with our help 1946-79. And even during the Taliban times before they banned poppy cultivation, the farmers were asking for help with the cotton industry, the second largest cash crop in the area in the 1970s with a still functioning cotton gin but that gets no help from us or any of the doners (the cotton lobby)or from their home ministry while cotton on the international market has hit an all-time high. And even with our continuing military occupation and Afghan eradication programs, opium cultivation continued to increase this past year. Rather than looking to new crops in places like Helmand, support the traditional cash crops first which the farmers know and prefer over opium which they consider an evil crop as more of their kids get addicted but with a good reliable market and an informal credit system, things we have been unable to support over the past 10-12 years. Safron for Herat sounds like it is doing ok but now lets focus on Helmand where most of the opium is produced and do something right for a change. What is needed as outlined here, is obvious at least to the farmers but which we continue to ignore...for some unknown reason. Helmand is a cash cropping double cropping region with some of the most innovative productive farmers in the country, and the growing season for cotton, which is planted in March/April overlaps with that of opium poppy which grows at the same time as wheat, planed in the fall, harvested in the late spring/early summer.
Before Afghanistan bombed NYC, the Taliban had completely eradicated opium production, after we invaded Afghanistan, it became a narco country with its economy founded on opium production. Somehow the trail of opiates seems to have increased rather than decreased with our recent wars, beginning of course with Clinton's bombing of the Balkans where the Albanian drug dealers were being run out by the Russians, until we bombed and developed a second homeland for the Albanians and secured the opiate supply for Europe (as a coincidental effect of course). But with the coincidental reintroduction of opium production to Afghanistan, it seems that the side effect was perhaps encouraged by some in control of the operations. Remember Ollie North the good old drug dealer?
Great comment! Keep fighting the Good Fight & spreading the Truth!
If you don't already know about them, you should REALLY check out these sites as they contain critical info towards ending the insidious influence of this elitist, corporatist bankster cartel that is spreading across this planet like a virus:
~InfoWars dot com (check out their world-changing internet TV/radio show & host Alex Jones’ CRUCIALLY informative documentaries)
~NaturalNews dot com (one of the top natural, holistic health sites, they also cover critical sociopolitical issues; to truly reclaim our Minds & Spirits, we must take care of our Bodies by educating ourselves to the ubiquitous poisons in this toxic culture)
~CoastToCoastAMdotCOM (check out their paradigm-shifting AM radio show, also on XM & podcast- this is radio for the open-Minded Freethinkers who care about issues systematically suppressed by the Establishment’s PRESStitute kontrol system)
"Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance." ~Albert Einstein
"One person cannot change the world, but one person can spread the message that can change the world." ~Albert Einstein (before dismissing Icke for some of the crazy stuff he talks about, please keep in Mind the aforementioned quote)
TO A BETTER FUTURE*!*!*!
Peace & Blessings...
lilian101,Afghanistan did not bomb the world trade center in New York.The terrorists were from different countries and were linked to AlQaida not the Taliban.
Aghani Saffron is very good. It is used in a lot of wonderful milk sweets, like Rassa Gullaa, Rassa Malai, Chom-Chom, in South Asia. I'd highly recommend it! Try it in some cakes, in stead of cinnamon or cardamom, and see how it is. It is also great with warm milk for a good night sleep. Now I am getting hungry! :))
Let me preface this with a quote from Albert Einstein:
"Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance."
PLEASE keep this wisdom in Mind before dismissing any of the following info b/c it challenges your conditioned worldview & scares you or makes you uncomfortable. The most critical Truths often are not easy to digest...
Americans have got to wake up to how we are being deceived, abused & manipulated. Did you know that the great majority of America's drugs are imported by dirty agents within the NSA, CIA, DEA, Military et al? If you take the time to investigate from INDEPENDENT, OBJECIVE sources you will find that THERE IS OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE THAT THIS GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP...
Consider this- before the invasion of Afghanistan, they were the source of 10% of the world's heroin. After the invasion, IT ROSE TO 90%! Just ask the troops who were there & they will tell you how the 1st thing they did was secure the opium fields (where heroin comes from)! Also of priority, of course, was guarding the Caspian sea oil pipeline! You STILL think it‘s about “terrorism”? HA! If you genuinely research the 9/11 inside job conspiracy, you will KNOW it’s not. (please refer to the films below)...
.
If they TRULY desired to eliminate heroin, they would go after the chemical used to make it, acetic anhydride.
People REALLY need to research all the CIA/DEA/FBI/Military & Police insiders who have blown the whistle on the system's role in bringing in the great majority of America's drugs; e.g. the case of former DEA agent Cele Castillo who spoke out & now sits in prison for a crime he VERY OBVIOUSLY did not commit! One of the biggest crack/cocaine dealers of the 80's, "Freeway" Ricky Ross, admitted that he got his dope from the CIA, & he has substantial evidence to back his claims!
There's a GREAT documentary about all this called "American Drug War"; it's on most video sites.
Remember the Iran Contra & Nicaragua scandal? The U.S. was caught giving guns to violent extremists in exchange for LARGE amounts of drugs! During this time, heroin & cocaine FLOODED American streets! Now we have Operation Fast & Furious where guns were given to Mexican drug gangs- I’m no coincidence theorist…
Search keywords "Bill Clinton Mena Arkansas airport drug conspiracy" & read for a while.
There have been 2 cases of CIA plane crashes that WERE CARRYING TONS OF COCAINE!
During the Vietnam War, HEROIN WAS FOUND IN THE BODIES OF DEAD SOLDIERS BEING BROUGHT HOME! THIS COULD’VE ONLY BEEN DONE THROUGH HIGH LEVELS OF THE MILITARY, GETTING DOPE IN THE BODY & ACCESSING IT UPON ARRIVAL!
.
We need to wake up soon b/c our country is fast becoming a police-state nightmare where concepts like REAL Freedom & Justice will become long-lost relics of the past...
The SoUlution is a PEACEFUL r3V0|ution of Information. Upon reaching a critical mass of well-informed, motivated individuals, we can begin to reclaim our system; eventually prosecuting the guilty conspirators & all their willing puppets! It's CRUCIAL that People on the inside step up become an army of whistleblowers... fear has gotten the best of us for far too long!
It won't be easy, but we will have to patiently rebuild our system in line with the Ideals of Liberty for ALL colors & creeds established in the U.S. Constitution & Bill of Rights.
.:.
PLEASE watch these VITALLY informative documentaries. THE INFORMATION THEY CONTAIN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, FREEING US FROM THE TYRANNICAL GRIP OF THE ELITIST, CORPORATIST BANKSTERS! The films expose the insidious methods used by this corporatist beast to enslave Earth's People. We must KNOW our enemy if we are to Truly, completely defeat it:
~"Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined" (globalist banksters ADMITTING ON VIDEO AND PAPER their desire for what they call a "new world order", & what that means)
~"Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement" (discover the elitist bankster's evil methods of genocide and eugenics, all to bring in their nwo)
~"Police State 4: The Rise of FEMA" (learn about EMPTY PRISON CAMPS ALREADY BUILT ALL OVER AMERICA, and the vast stock of FEMA coffins)
~“The Obama Deception” (includes famous black People speaking out against Obama, so nobody can cry “racism” for lack of any real, intellectual rebuttal; factually exposes the polytricks of “left vs. right“ which are used to divide-and-conquer us- BOTH “SIDES“ ARE CONTROLLED BY THE SAME CORPORATE BEAST, except rare heroes like Cynthia McKinney [black ex-Congresswoman, GA], Ron Paul, Rand Paul & Dennis Kucinich)
~"Fall of the Republic" (documents how this offshore, corporatist cartel is bankrupting the US economy BY DESIGN to further their agenda for global domination)
~“America: Freedom to Fascism” (proof the income tax is ILLEGAL; our economy was hijacked by the “Federal” Reserve- our monetary system is a SCAM)
+
THE WAR ON TERROR = A WAR ON FREEDOM!
THESE PROVE 9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB, & MORE:
~"Terrorstorm" (history of government-sponsored terrorism- what’s TAUGHT AS “false flag attacks” IN ARMY MANUALS; & more)
~"9/11 Press for Truth" (9/11 victim's family members questioning the official story; how they were mistreated by the gov. and denied crucial info about their loved one's deaths- witness the treachery of the 9/11 Commission ; THIS FILM EFFECTIVELY NEUTRALIZES PROPAGANDA CLAIMING THAT 9/11 TRUTHERS ONLY HURT THE VICTIM'S FAMILIES)
~”9/11: The Myth & the Reality”
(legendary author David Ray Griffin blows away the lies)
~"911 Mysteries"
~"Fabled Enemies"
~"Loose Change: Final Cut"
~”The 9/11 Chronicles: Part One, Truth Rising” (documents the exponentially growing movement to expose the Truth about that fateful day)
!-~)*(~-!
LET'S TAKE OUR FUTURE BACK*!
MAKE DVD COPIES/FLYERS TO GIVE OUT, OR ANY OTHER PEACEFUL MEANS TO AWAKEN THE MASSES*!*!
PLEASE, Choose Love (Truth & Freedom) over fear (willful ignorance, apathy, enslavement & suffering)...
JOIN THE r3V01ution*!*!*!
Let me preface this with a quote from Albert Einstein:
"Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance."
PLEASE keep this wisdom in Mind before dismissing any of the following info b/c it challenges your conditioned worldview & scares you or makes you uncomfortable. The most critical Truths often are not easy to digest...
Americans have got to wake up to how we are being deceived, abused & manipulated. Did you know that the great majority of America's drugs are imported by dirty agents within the NSA, CIA, DEA, Military et al? If you take the time to investigate from INDEPENDENT, OBJECIVE sources you will find that THERE IS OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE THAT THIS GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP...
Consider this- before the invasion of Afghanistan, they were the source of 10% of the world's heroin. After the invasion, IT ROSE TO 90%! Just ask the troops who were there & they will tell you how the 1st thing they did was secure the opium fields (where heroin comes from)! Also of priority, of course, was guarding the Caspian sea oil pipeline! You STILL think it‘s about “terrorism”? HA! If you genuinely research the 9/11 inside job conspiracy, you will KNOW it’s not. (please refer to the films below)...
.
If they TRULY desired to eliminate heroin, they would go after the chemical used to make it, acetic anhydride.
People REALLY need to research all the CIA/DEA/FBI/Military & Police insiders who have blown the whistle on the system's role in bringing in the great majority of America's drugs; e.g. the case of former DEA agent Cele Castillo who spoke out & now sits in prison for a crime he VERY OBVIOUSLY did not commit! One of the biggest crack/cocaine dealers of the 80's, "Freeway" Ricky Ross, admitted that he got his dope from the CIA, & he has substantial evidence to back his claims!
There's a GREAT documentary about all this called "American Drug War"; it's on most video sites.
Remember the Iran Contra & Nicaragua scandal? The U.S. was caught giving guns to violent extremists in exchange for LARGE amounts of drugs! During this time, heroin & cocaine FLOODED American streets! Now we have Operation Fast & Furious where guns were given to Mexican drug gangs- I’m no coincidence theorist…
Search keywords "Bill Clinton Mena Arkansas airport drug conspiracy" & read for a while.
There have been 2 cases of CIA plane crashes that WERE CARRYING TONS OF COCAINE!
During the Vietnam War, HEROIN WAS FOUND IN THE BODIES OF DEAD SOLDIERS BEING BROUGHT HOME! THIS COULD’VE ONLY BEEN DONE THROUGH HIGH LEVELS OF THE MILITARY, GETTING DOPE IN THE BODY & ACCESSING IT UPON ARRIVAL!
.
We need to wake up soon b/c our country is fast becoming a police-state nightmare where concepts like REAL Freedom & Justice will become long-lost relics of the past...
The SoUlution is a PEACEFUL r3V0|ution of Information. Upon reaching a critical mass of well-informed, motivated individuals, we can begin to reclaim our system; eventually prosecuting the guilty conspirators & all their willing puppets! It's CRUCIAL that People on the inside step up become an army of whistleblowers... fear has gotten the best of us for far too long!
It won't be easy, but we will have to patiently rebuild our system in line with the Ideals of Liberty for ALL colors & creeds established in the U.S. Constitution & Bill of Rights.
.:.
PLEASE watch these VITALLY informative documentaries. THE INFORMATION THEY CONTAIN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, FREEING US FROM THE TYRANNICAL GRIP OF THE ELITIST, CORPORATIST BANKSTERS! The films expose the insidious methods used by this corporatist beast to enslave Earth's People. We must KNOW our enemy if we are to Truly, completely defeat it:
~"Invisible Empire: A New World Order Defined" (globalist banksters ADMITTING ON VIDEO AND PAPER their desire for what they call a "new world order", & what that means)
~"Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement" (discover the elitist bankster's evil methods of genocide and eugenics, all to bring in their nwo)
~"Police State 4: The Rise of FEMA" (learn about EMPTY PRISON CAMPS ALREADY BUILT ALL OVER AMERICA, and the vast stock of FEMA coffins)
~“The Obama Deception” (includes famous black People speaking out against Obama, so nobody can cry “racism” for lack of any real, intellectual rebuttal; factually exposes the polytricks of “left vs. right“ which are used to divide-and-conquer us- BOTH “SIDES“ ARE CONTROLLED BY THE SAME CORPORATE BEAST, except rare heroes like Cynthia McKinney [black ex-Congresswoman, GA], Ron Paul, Rand Paul & Dennis Kucinich)
~"Fall of the Republic" (documents how this offshore, corporatist cartel is bankrupting the US economy BY DESIGN to further their agenda for global domination)
~“America: Freedom to Fascism” (proof the income tax is ILLEGAL; our economy was hijacked by the “Federal” Reserve- our monetary system is a SCAM)
+
THE WAR ON TERROR = A WAR ON FREEDOM!
THESE PROVE 9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB, & MORE:
~"Terrorstorm" (history of government-sponsored terrorism- what’s TAUGHT AS “false flag attacks” IN ARMY MANUALS; & more)
~"9/11 Press for Truth" (9/11 victim's family members questioning the official story; how they were mistreated by the gov. and denied crucial info about their loved one's deaths- witness the treachery of the 9/11 Commission ; THIS FILM EFFECTIVELY NEUTRALIZES PROPAGANDA CLAIMING THAT 9/11 TRUTHERS ONLY HURT THE VICTIM'S FAMILIES)
~”9/11: The Myth & the Reality”
(legendary author David Ray Griffin blows away the lies)
~"911 Mysteries"
~"Fabled Enemies"
~"Loose Change: Final Cut"
~”The 9/11 Chronicles: Part One, Truth Rising” (documents the exponentially growing movement to expose the Truth about that fateful day)
!-~)*(~-!
LET'S TAKE OUR FUTURE BACK*!
MAKE DVD COPIES/FLYERS TO GIVE OUT, OR ANY OTHER PEACEFUL MEANS TO AWAKEN THE MASSES*!*!
PLEASE, Choose Love (Truth & Freedom) over fear (willful ignorance, apathy, enslavement & suffering)...
JOIN THE r3V01ution*!*!*!
Sorry about the duplicate...
This news item is nothing compared to what a mess Islam has made to Afghan and Paki regions!
The Islamic extremist Frankenstein monsters have started backstabbing big time the inventers of Pakistan, British, and the masters (US and allies) who kept them alive.
In most of the Islamic terrorism and plots in the US, Britain, Europe and other places, Pakis have a hand.
Half of NATO forces deaths in Afghanistan are due to Pakis.
Before followers of Islamic cult set their feet on Afghan and Paki regions, these regions were quite peaceful and prosperous.
Once the cancer of Islam gradually got control of the region, those regions have become raping, stealing, looting and killing fields.
In Afghanistan, Paki proxies Taliban did not even tolerate Buddha’s statue in Bamiyan.
Many Paki areas and some Afghan areas have become breeding and exporting centers for illegal activities including drugs growing and trading and export of Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world.
British invented Pakistan in 47 and Pakistan is supposed to be a pure Islamic nation. In Pakistan, it was massive genocides of minorities in between 48-50.
Percentages of Hindus and Sikhs were reduced from about 24 percent less than three years by rapes, stealing, lootings, terrorizing and killing on a massive scale.
Paki Islamic religious madness did not end there.
Sunni Pakis are after Ahmedias, Sufis (fake love and dance Islamic soap opera people), Shiites (20 percent), Hazaras, and Baloochs and other minority sects/tribes.
Shiites, Sufis, Ahmedias and other minority sects/tribes people are blown up while they pray in their mosques on Fridays. And even hospitals are bombed to kill those injured.
For world peace and economic stability, declare Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, fountainheads of Islamic extremism, as terrorist nations.
Sooner or later, they will have to be wiped out of world map.
I do love Saffron, but I was also grateful for the morphine I was given after surgery last year.
How long before the crooks are into saffron..... oh wait, they already are.
Kind of ironic that when the Taliban was in power, they forbade growing opium poppies. Now that they are considered an outlaw regime, they are profiting from it.