MUSCAT: Oman’s first commercial scale saffron cultivation farm project commenced operations at a site in Al Jabal Al Akhdar earlier this week. Saffron Oman aims to introduce the first batch of locally grown saffron by the end of 2024.
Speaking to Al Shabab Radio, project owner Ahmed Ali al Hanshi shed some insight into the project: “The main idea of this project is to introduce new crops to Oman on a commercial scale. Saffron (was chosen) due to its high value as one of the most expensive spices in the world.” Additionally, Al Hanshi highlighted the economic potential of the project. “Since not many countries cultivate saffron, establishing a commercial saffron production project would be valuable for Oman, both in terms of supporting the local market and expanding into regional and global markets.” The project, located in Al Jabal Al Akhdar, spans an area of over 25,000 square metres. The owner explained that the location was chosen due to its ideal climate.
“The area is ideal for saffron cultivation because saffron is a winter crop that requires low temperatures, below 18 degrees Celsius to start forming bulbs, and then during the flowering phase, it needs a certain temperature for the bulbs to give you a dense flowering yield.” According to Al Hanshi, over half a million bulbs of saffron, weighing over nine tonnes, were imported from the Netherlands, for the initial planting. The farm aims to produce both saffron and bulbs, with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency by multiplying bulbs annually and avoiding future imports.
“The farm will produce saffron, but at the same time, we will also produce saffron bulbs because the idea is to import only once, and after that, the production of bulbs will multiply annually on the farm,” he shared.
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