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 saffron. The best-known Hellenic saffron legend is that of Crocus and Smilax: The handsome youth Crocus sets out in pursuit of the nymph Smilax in the woods near Athens; in a brief dallying interlude of idyllic love, Smilax is flattered by his amorous advances, but all too soon tires of his attentions. He continues his pursuit; she resists. She bewitches Crocus: he is transformed—into a saffron crocus. Its radiant orange stigmas were held as a relict glow of an undying and unrequited passion. The tragedy and the spice would be recalled later: For the ancient Mediterraneans, saffron gathered around the