ABSTRACT
Saffron has been regarded as a native plant of the Iranian plateau (2) and has been cultivated in the country for centuries. Saffron is an important cash crop in Khorasan and has been a major revenue generating product for small farmers in water deficit areas of the south Khorasan (6). This crop has a specific criterion such as lowwater demanding, water requirement at periods of high water availability, ease of transportation, low demands for expensive machinery and labor requirements at the time of harvesting and therefore job generation for local people, all of which are suitable for areas with low industrial development potential (6). Although this crop has a long history of production in the southern Khorasan, not much progress is made in developing production and processing technologies. Even in countries such as Spain, India and Italy not much advancement has been made with saffron production (33).
