While that small-scale, low-tech approach may have kept saffron production going over the past few decades, it has also left it on the edge of extinction.
“We’re being held back by the idiosyncrasies of the sector itself,” says Fernández. “What we’re trying to do now is bring about a change and a transition so we’re not left behind in this folk tradition, which is where I think we are now. As producers, we can’t grow enough saffron to meet our customers’ demand all year round, and that means it’s not a stable business.”
Production is unpredictable because the bulb-like corms from which the crocuses grow are susceptible to fungus and very
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