The adequate rainfall received by Iran during the current year has proved advantageous to the country, as it is expected to produce 300 tonnes of saffron, one of the most expensive spices in the world, a report said.

Precipitation since March in Khorasan province, which produces the bulk of saffron, has resulted in better blossoming of the plant and a rise in yield, Ali Hosseini of the National Saffron Council was quoted as saying in an Iran Daily report, citing Press TV.

He added that the Khorasan province, where saffron thrives better than anywhere else across Iran, produced 210 tonnes last year.

Iran is the world's largest producer and exporter of the ingredient staple used for flavouring food and pastries, with further application in medicine and cosmetics, said the report.

With a monopoly over more than 90 per cent of saffron output, Iran exports to more than 50 countries where demand for the spice is always high in view of its premium quality due to the country's unique ecology.

Even the sanctions placed by the US which left few sectors of the Iranian economy unaffected, were unable to affect the sales of saffron.
 
Saffron is a labour-intensive crop which needs 250,000 flimsy crimson red strands to be plucked laboriously by hand from about 75,000 crocus blooms to make a pound.

The flowers must be picked early in the morning — before the scent is lost to the heat of the day — and then dried. Saffron production employs as many as 100,000 Iranians either directly or indirectly in the country of 80 million, it said.

Each kilo of the Iranian saffron retails for $2,000 in global markets. It can cost more than the precious metal with each gram of the premium Iranian crop able to fetch $65, added the report.