ALGEMEEN
SA’s first saffron season exceeds expectations South Africa started its first full-fledged planting of saffron this year, and the first season exceeded all expectations, with most farmers producing successful crops.
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ccording to Bennie Engelbrecht, founding member and director of Saffricon, the company at the helm of the local saffron revolution, saffron has been planted in all provinces. The feedback from farmers indicates a success rate of about 95%. “Here and there farmers experienced some hiccups, but the vast majority's crops were successful and produced flowers. In many cases, year one's harvest yielded more flowers than initially expected. This bodes well for the next seasons' harvests and the expansion of the industry.” Saffron corms multiply underground under favourable conditions, on average three times a year, with flower production usually peaking in year three. Saffron is a winter crop and corms are typically planted between March and April. The flowers – which have the blood-red saffron threads – are harvested 40 days after the corms sprout. Furthermore, flowers should be harvested immediately, on the day they start flowering. Saffricon signed outgrower contracts with three farmers – one in Laingsburg and two in Pretoria – with plantings ranging from about 6 000 corms to just over 150 000 corms. Next year, however, many more contracts will be concluded thanks to the greater number of corms available to supply farmers. The outgrower contracts with farmers will be concluded on a franchise basis and according to Engelbrecht, there is massive interest from prospective saffron farmers. Corné Liebenberg,
GROENTE & VRUGTE | SEPTEMBER • OKTOBER 2021
marketing director of Laeveld Agrochem, says this demand has primarily been driven by the enormous media interest and coverage that the cultivation of saffron received in South Africa. Saffricon also sold 173 starter packs to 134 interested parties. A starter pack contains approximately 700 prepared corms, plant nutrition and a growing programme, soil analyses done by Nvirotek and recommendations made by Agri Technovation, a manual to help with cultivation, as well as support from Saffricon. “The starter packs are ideal, as they allow prospective farmers to test the cultivation of saffron all over South Africa in different growing conditions before considering farming on a larger scale,” says Engelbrecht. “For everyone I talk to, the most attractive part of the current offer is the fact that they ‘only need to get the corms in the ground’ and that Saffricon buys back the saffron, as well as the corms after year three. So, there is a certain outcome that gives peace of mind,” says Liebenberg.
Buyer interest from the Middle East According to Engelbrecht, there is a lot of buyer interest in their saffron, and they are currently negotiating with various parties in the Middle East. The world demand for saffron is much greater than what is produced annually – good news for TO PAGE 28
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