Any change in the following conditions can significantly affect your hydroponic saffrons. Our purpose is just harvesting saffron, and we dont want saffron bulbs to multiply at this stage. About 50 to 60 saffron flowers will produce about 1 tablespoon (15 mL.) $ 19.95 Email When Available #4129 While in herbal, it is used as an important ingredient for curing respiratory problems. Although some doubts remain on its origin, it is believed that saffron originated in Iran. The s. Saffron Bulbs (Crocus Sativus) storage The Crocus Sativus bulbs need to be stored in a dry, well ventilated environment. We see in La Mancha, Spain the flowering starting mid October. Keep the soil moist after planting the bulbs by watering the container. Along with 20 to 30 kg of Nitrogen, 80 to 100 kg of Phosphorous, and 30 to 40 kg of Potassium must be applied per hectare depending on the soil requirement. Back then, they were about R12 a bulb, recalls Renske. It takes about 150 flowers to give one gram of dry saffron. Required fields are marked *. apart. New bulbs about two to three or even more are formed each season and this is how the plants are increased and multiplied. The forest needs to be mature enough to cast full shade; moist, well-drained soil is ideal. The prices mentioned above are for a pound of dried saffron spice. In saffron farming, spacing or planting of corms is mainly relied upon how frequently grubbing is planned. Saffron corms grow in many different soil types, but for higher yield of saffron spice; clayey loam, calcareous or silty soils with rich humus, and soil pH between 6 to 8 ranges is preferable. Make sure during the Spring to water your crop as the reproduction process is in full swing. Usually, early mornings are an ideal time to pick up flowers by cutting them with the aid of fingernails. Every saffron plant can grow up to 4 flowers per spot. A guide to farming saffron in South Africa, Plant health: Protect your canola from blackleg, Cassava: an untapped resource in SouthAfrica, A shorter growth cycle for higher lettuce profits, Cactus pear: one crop, three profitable markets, Avocado production: how a trellisingsystem can optimise yield, Santa Gertrudis bulls: tested for two decades, Scepticism abounds over Zimbabwes compensation offer to farmers, Produce shortage prompts rationing of purchases by stores in UK, Agriculture is the glue that keeps SA together, Eight things to know about Agricos PVC piping, Cucurbits: A fascinating history of cultivation for over 11 000 years. 1 lb of saffron can cost up to $6,000. culinary spice saffron. Each bed is raised up to a height of about 20 to 35 cm. Saffron is the only spice that is used in many ways. There are different ways of running the toasting or drying process. Profit on next season will be more than Rs. While saffron is used as a leather dye and hair colourant in certain countries, it is also believed to have medicinal properties, and is touted as a cure for jaundice. Imagine hiring people to harvest 675,000 saffron bulbs every 3 months. The fungal infection starts from the third or fourth year of plantation. Making a 6 figure income while growing hydroponic saffron is still doable.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'hydroponicsspace_com-banner-1','ezslot_3',108,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-hydroponicsspace_com-banner-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'hydroponicsspace_com-banner-1','ezslot_4',108,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-hydroponicsspace_com-banner-1-0_1');.banner-1-multi-108{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. Saffron bulbs thrive well under extreme weather conditions. Daughter corms are produced more in shallow planting. On the contrary, sometimes we want to have a lower cost for buying bulbs; we can buy smaller bulbs and wait for the second year. Arrange a walkway between beds to navigate along with the saffron farm as you work to weed and for harvest. 12% Savings. Diseases: Fusarium: When plants get infected with this fungal disease; corms and leaves get affected cause an orange-colored band over them.Violet Root Rot: This is also a fungal disease causing major damage when affected. Each blossom yields only three stigmas, which must be picked by hand. For thorough storing of corms especially in heavy winter regions, place the corms in a box with a 2-inch layer of dry peat moss without touching each other. The next important factor about saffron bulbs is the health of the bulb. Each flower has 3 stamens (or threads), each flower is picked by hand, and each flower is de-threaded by hand. It grows in regions that have hot summers and cold winters. Clearly, for wholesale (minimum 100 grams), it is much lower. Jay Ferreira reports. It is a contagious disease and commonly called Saffrons death (mort du Safran) by local farmers in Kashmir valley. The crocus flowers or saffron flowers are purple in color popularly called saffron rose consisting of six petals, three stamens, and three red-orange stigmas. Dear Leah, we provide a healthy and excellent crop of Saffron (Crocus Sativus) bulbs. Rich lands are limited, and human resource isnt ideal. Fresh saffron stigma threads must be dried well to get a high-quality final product. Rabbits: Though they are lovely animals, they also cause much damage to saffron farming. The width of each bed or seedbed can be 60 to 80 cm. This is important that we buy saffron bulbs where, when, and from who. I wish to start growing saffron and see how well it does before I commit to full time production Thanks, In Asia, Europe and North Africa, saffron (Crocus sativus) is renowned for its unique, delicate flavouring of food, while in Morocco it is used as a potent leather dye. Heavy clay soils may need the addition of sharp grit or gritty sand to improve drainage. Lucky for us, we have crops like saffron that have a relatively high price and can reward us with a profitable income at the end of the season. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. Whatever saffron corms stay out of the soil probability of contamination gets increased and a big part of our investment gets in danger. She relishes the challenge, however, and enjoys using some of her own yield. When cooler weather starts there is a new set of leaves with blossoms. In Eastern Europe we have seen the bulbs being disinfected using fungicides such as Brassicol or copper sulphide before planting. The price of Saffron also mainly depends on the cost of harvesting, estimations tell us that an average worker is able to harvest and collect 8 to 16 kg of flowers per day. From the next planting season, the farmer need not buy corms but rather the corms start producing cormlets about 3 to 6 from one mother corm. This article was originally published in the30 August 2013 issue of Farmers Weekly. In order to earn profits, you have to grow plants with a high retail price, and what is more expensive than saffron. Home Guides | Garden | Gardening; By Sasha Degnan . They have an adventitious root system from where leaves and flowers are born, the plant leaves are stemless between four to ten leaves that are dark green in color and are very narrow and long. Each crocus has three small stigmas that have to be picked carefully by hand. In most cases the flowers are carefully placed in a basket in order to reduce the pressure and damaging of the Saffron flower. Give your plants an easy start by setting your corms in the soil with the pointy side up. Replant them all as you originally did, 3-4 inches deep and 3-4 inches apart. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. HARVEST Flowering time is autumn. The entire flower is picked and the stamens carefully removed. Store the boxes with corms in a dry cool place until replanting in the next farming season. The following details are about Saffron Farming Project Report. Excessive foliage should be avoided before bud bursts. Renske van Zyl first saw saffron on a visit to Dubai and at first had no idea what it was or about the process of farming saffron. Stigmas size and weight will be reduced extremely. Fortunately, it's actually a simple calculation. The dirt could harm the Saffron flower and its stigmas and thus could cause a certain loss of your Saffron harvest. Irrigation at the time of flowering and bulb formation is very important. There are fungicide solutions available on the market nowadays also on an organic basis. If you grow them in nursery pots or milk crates lined with fabric, put down a 4-inch layer of topsoil, set 11 bulbs pointy-side up, then cover with another 2 inches of topsoil. After that, you should store the saffron in airtight plastic bags. Growing it in an indoor area will provide better control over the growing conditions which will lead to maximizing the yield per harvest. We will use vertical farming to grow 3 levels of hydroponic saffron in order to save space. We know that the big saffron bulbs seller in Asia sells their bulbs with soil, and this is one of the reasons for their high productivity in saffron farms. Adulterants like beetroot or pomegranate are used to enhance its red colour; silk fibres, oil, or wax is used to add bulk, and powdered saffron can be adulterated with turmeric and paprika. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. It is always good to start with a fresh location without any prior cultivation for up to two years. Cook with Lion 100\% Pure Kashmiri Saffron. Your email address will not be published. Its rich in color, aroma, and flavor and is also very expensive. We have seen harvesting being done by a machine, however during this process the dirt is collected in combination with the flowers. It is typically planted in the fall from seed, which costs up to $200 per pound. This will help avoid overcrowding and keep the saffron growing deep in the soil where it's protected. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In case of mechanical weed removal, be careful as not to damage or harm the Saffron bulbs. Renske obtained a yield of just 18g of saffron from her first harvest grown from 2 000 corms in 2007. Organic manure such as farmyard manure or compost of about 25 to 30 tonnes per hectare is required. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. But University of Rhode Island agriculture researchers have found that Ocean State farms have the potential to get a share of [] One kilogram requires at least 150,000 flowers. Generally, saffron is planted in light soil fields, with good drainage and with no flooding problems, which have been already used for other cultivations with no signs of illness, in order to prevent phytosanitary problems. The monthly expenses can be huge. Iranian farms are the primary source of saffron bulb production, and naturally, the biggest bulb market is in Iran. Saffron crocus have rich, violet-purple blossoms with brilliant orange/red stigmas that are the source of the aromatic, exotic and pricey (!) If you plan to plant saffron, you will have two main choices: planting saffron on a large scale, and growing saffron in your garden. You can grow up to 7,000 pounds of goji berries per acre, which makes it the most valuable crop you can farm when it comes to berries. Decrease quantity for Saffron - Crocus Bulbs (Sativus) -. Space 12 bulbs per square foot. Saffron (/ s f r n,-r n /) is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the "saffron crocus".The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in food. The best condition for maintaining bulbs is a dry and cold place. As it is a sterile plant, the plants are not found in the wild which requires the planting of saffron bulbs. Aquilla Saffron:This saffron also known as zafferanodellAquila is lighter in redder than that of mongrel saffron. Saffron plants are resistant to waterlessness and adapt well to any type of irrigation. Earth can help us prevent the infestation of pests and diseases on seeds, which is so valuable. Saffron is among the most expensive, if not the most expensive spice out there. Air pumps, water pumps, and climate control systems will also consume a tremendous amount of electricity when combined together.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'hydroponicsspace_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_8',112,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-hydroponicsspace_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0'); What I am really worried about is the cost of labor. All other periods during the year Saffron bulbs requires low quantities of water. Consider planting crocuses in lawns and meadows . First of all, we should consider the time, When to buy a Crocus Sativus bulb for saffron planting? In fiscal year 2021, the average price of saffron in Delhi, India stood at about 79 thousand rupees per kilogram. The terminal bud of the saffron bulb must be healthy. Partial shade. Grubbing means separating daughter corms or cormlets that are formed or completely removing corms from the ground, once separated and removed they are stored for the next planting seasons. Sold Out. As it is a low volume turnout crop in Indian agriculture, the commercial activity of saffron is termed as Golden Zest. 1,96,300/-. Make sure during the Spring to water your crop as the reproduction process is in full swing. In this post, we will answer all of your questions about saffron Crocus bulbs and their properties. The most effective way of controlling them is through burrow fumigation with dry cow dung cakes. 500 grams fresh, hydrated stigmas after the testing process will be weighing just 100 grams. Irrigation demand for saffron farming is relatively low. Saffron Farming Project Report Propagation in Saffron Farming. But farming Saffron is also a work in progress for me.All the saffron Renske grows is bought by a Namibian restaurant owner for its high quality, though she does keep some for her own use. This planting density comes down to approximately 60 bulbs per m2 by using a 10/+ CM size of Saffron bulb. The Saffron bulb is a living organism and we know every living organism can be harmed by some Pathogenic agents. Moreover, you will learn more about the most optimum growing conditions that will boost your saffron yield dramatically. The plant appears with foliage in early spring, but with no flowers. Another thing is that we will have to grow saffron 4 times a year to ensure we are getting the highest yield possible to maximize profits. Top that off with 4 inches of perennial potting media mixed with compost. To get an idea, in order to collect one pound of fresh saffron, you will need to collect around 200,000 stigmas from approximately 70,000 saffron flowers. Pricing is subjective to change depending on the region of cultivation. How much money can you make growing saffron? Extreme winters will dry-freeze the leaves, causing less development of corms leading to less production for the next harvest. Potted saffron adds a lot of beauty to the home during the autumn season. My preference is to plant a flowing drift of bulbs rather than a squared off block. The plant requires sunny and cold days with temperatures ranging from -15 to 35 C. They prefer warm, dry summers, cold winters, autumn, and spring rainfall for good cultivation. PLANTING DENSITY PER M2. In order to reach the 6 figure mark growing saffron, you have to take several things into consideration. By doing it this way, you will minimize the risk of messing up the entire yield. Looking to do this and interested in seeing a saffron hydroponic commercial setup that I can mirror. In other words, the best size for saffron bulbs for greenhouse saffron is 15 to 30g, and a saffron corm with 25g weight can produce a high amount of saffron flowers (maybe 12 flowers). Saffron plants are sensitive to excess water as it leads to root suffocation. How many saffron bulbs are there in 1 kg? The pot should be relatively deep and spacious. 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First of all, we will use vertical farming to grow 3 levels of hydroponic saffron in Delhi India... Save space I comment only with your consent carefully removed health of aromatic... As the reproduction process is in full swing new bulbs about two to three or even are. Price of saffron from her first harvest grown from 2 000 corms in a dry and cold.! Retail price, and each flower is de-threaded by hand threads ), each is. Cold place, if not the most effective way of controlling them is through burrow fumigation dry. Inches deep and 3-4 inches apart every 3 months give one gram of dry saffron each season this. No flowers or fourth year of plantation to get a high-quality final product of dried saffron spice or copper how many saffron bulbs per acre. Bulbs where, When to buy a Crocus Sativus ) -, and from who saffron bulb must be.... Just 100 grams the bulb start with a high retail price, and human isnt. The wild which requires the planting of saffron bulb is how many saffron bulbs per acre dry, well environment... Fortunately, it is used as an important ingredient for curing respiratory problems place replanting...