Saffron (trade) world trade. The cultivation of saffron in the Americas was begun by members of the Schwenkfelder Church in Pennsylvania. In recent decades cultivation has spread to New Zealand, Tasmania, and California. Iran has accounted for around 90–93 percent of recent annual world production and thereby dominates the export market on a by-quantity basis. Almost all saffron grows in a belt bounded by the Mediterranean in the west and mountainous Kashmir in the east. All other continents except Antarctica produce smaller amounts. In 1991, Some of whole threads and powder are gleaned yearly, of which is top-grade "coupe" saffron. Iran is
Saffron (trade) the regions of, La Mancha, Spain, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy, and around abouts Kozani, western Macedonia, Greece. The Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir have the "All J&K Saffron Growers & Dealers Association" which is run in order to promote fair trade and the rights of saffron farmers, and to promote trade of the spice. The high cost of saffron is due to the difficulty of manually extracting large numbers of minute stigmas, which are the only part of the crocus with the desired aroma and flavour. An exorbitant number of flowers need to be processed in order to yield marketable