Trade and use of saffron 93.7 percent of the year's global total mass; much of the Iranian crop was bound for export. In the same year, second-ranked Greece produced . Morocco and Kashmir-India: Most of the region's saffron is grown in the more climatically suitable "Valley of Kashmir", which is in Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir ; region of Kashmir, tied as the next-highest producer, each produced . In decreasing order, Iran, Greece, Morocco, the Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir-India), Azerbaijan, Spain, and Italy dominate the world harvest. In Iran, the world's leading producer, the erstwhile and northeasterly Khorasan Province, which in 2004 was divided
History of saffron the family Iridaceae, native to Greece and Crete. "C. cartwrightianus" is the presumed wild progenitor of the domesticated triploid "Crocus sativus" – the saffron crocus. Saffron is the triploid form of a species found in Eastern Greece, "Crocus cartwrightianus"; it probably appeared first in Crete. An origin in Western or Central Asia, although often suspected, has been disproved by botanical research. Saffron played a significant role in the Greco-Roman pre-classical period bracketed by the 8th century BC and the 3rd century AD. The first known image of saffron in pre-Greek culture is much older and stems from the Bronze Age.