Governor of Marand city Taqi Karami said on Tuesday that Dutch investors are willing to make joint venture investment to produce saffron in the city.


Marand with suitable climate is the best location in northwest of the country to cultivate agricultural products with low level water consumption, especially saffron.
Karami made the remarks in a meeting with 5-member Dutch delegation on Tuesday.
He said that 115 hectares of agricultural land in the city allocated to cultivation of saffron, which is supposed to increase in five years to 300 hectares.
The governor said that in the past year Marand could produce 400 kilograms of saffron by 198 farmers and now is as a hub for saffron in northwestern Iran.
He said that Marand is ready for cooperation in the field of purchasing saffron bulbs from the Netherlands, allocation of lands for cultivation of saffron and its export with brand of Marand city and processing under license of the Netherlands.
Head of Dutch delegation Robert Vander Tang said that the visit aims to increase cooperation on cultivation of crops with low level water consumption such as saffron and roses.
He said that growing saffron bulbs by traditional method in Marand takes seven years, but, the industrial methods help the growth in less than one year.
Vander Tang said producing the crops in the Netherlands is difficult, because of rains, but it is exported to 23 countries of the world.
The Dutch delegation visited saffron and roses farms in Marand and evaluated their qualification high, calling for more cooperation between the two countries on sharing experience.
Marand is situated 71 km northeast of Tabriz.