Saffron Farming in Northeast Iran Designated as GIAHS

The qanat-based saffron farming system in Iran's northeastern Khorasan Razavi Province’s Gonabad County has been formally designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.
"The designation came at a meeting in Rome of the GIAHS Scientific Advisory Group affiliated with the Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations on Friday," Ali Kianirad, an official with the Economic and Rural Development Research Institute, told Financial Tribune.
APERDRI is affiliated with Iran's Agriculture Ministry.
“This cultivation system is unique in that the farms are irrigated via the qanat [or aquaduct] system constructed in the region hundreds of years ago. As saffron is a drought-tolerant plant and Gonabad is located in an arid and semi-arid climate this qanat-based saffron farming system, a legacy handed down to the farmers of the region by their ancestors, provides the means for efficient water management,” Kianirad said.