The Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) will distribute more than 500 tons of saffron bulbs to farmers in 30 provinces this year.

The ministry said this will be the launch of a five-year plan to increase saffron production in the country. Officials said they will also start issuing Saffron Quality Certificates this year.

The spokesman for MAIL Lotfollah Rashid said: “We will create ten processing centers this year, and we are planning to give saffron quality certificates for 2017."

At present, Herat produces 90 percent of the country’s saffron and dozens of saffron production plants are dotted around the province.

But these business owners say the price of saffron has taken a sharp dip in the last year. Now being sold on the local market for 70,000 AFs per kilogram, last year the price was 120,000 AFs per kilogram.

Omid Amin Yar, one saffron producer said: “If we can get a few contracts with foreign countries, especially Arab countries, and saffron is exported there,  this will help to grow the saffron industry in the country."

Abdullah Barak, another saffron business owner said: "The saffron price has dropped by 50,000 AFs per kilogram. A person who wants to invest in harvesting and cultivating faces a serious threat."  

Meanwhile, the chairman of the National Saffron Union said that while contracts with Arab countries and China are in place to export the product, these agreements are not being implemented.

Bashir Ahmad Rashidi, the head of the union, said: "There is no doubt that the agreement remains in place, but the businesses need to follow them through. Unfortunately, no action has been taken in this section."