Minister of Agriculture Kiril Vatev has requested the drafting of a 10-year plan for the development of the production of saffron in Bulgaria, Hasan Tahirov, chair of the Bulgarian Association of Saffron Growers and a pioneer of saffron production in this country said for the BNR’s Radio Kurdzhali.

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In 2009, he and his wife Reni purchased the first 70 bulbs from Turkey and handed them out in some 30 villages in Kurdzhali region so people could test the soil. In Hasan Tahirov’s words, the money that is made out of growing saffron on an area of one-tenth of a hectare is equal to the money made out of 30 hectares of wheat or at least 7 hectares of vineyards. He says saffron holds the key to the depopulation of the villages in the Rhodopes – more and more young, educated people from the cities have been coming back to their family homes in villages, attracted by the prospect of growing saffron.

Photos: BTA, BGNES