The government needs to establish a national saffron development fund to help organize the saffron market, regulate the price fluctuations and further export the product, Farshid Manouchehri, secretary of the National Saffron Council told IRNA. While over 75% of saffron production is exported, the output is predicted to drop by 25 to 30 percent in the current year, which would lead to an increase in prices, he said. The fund can provide exporters with loans and can directly purchase the product from the farmers, a move that would support both producers and exporters. Iran harvests about 90% of the world’s saffron production. More than 120 tons of saffron, worth $200 million, was exported from Iran to 46 countries in the previous Iranian year (March 2013-2014).
