At a field outside Kozani, northern Greece, the strikingly blue-and-purple petals of saffron give off an intoxicating scent that underscores the value of one of the country's most lucrative crops. But beneath the beautiful flowers, which can fetch five to nine euros ($5.45-9.
8) for a single gramme, the earth is cracked and parched after uncommonly long periods of drought, taking a toll on the crop's yield. "We haven't had a good dose of rain in our area since May," sighed veteran saffron farmer Grigoris Tzidimopoulos. After the warmest winter and summer since detailed records began in 1960, Greece has now experienced its driest month of October in the last 15 years, according to the national observatory.
"This field used to give us more than a pound (454 grammes) per acre. Last year..
. from nine acres in all, the yield was three pounds," 68-year-old Tzidimopoulos said. "Ten or 12 years ago when I sowed, it often snowed.
Now we have neither snow nor rain," he added. Harvested in Greece for at least 3,600 years -- a saffron picker is even immortalised in a Minoan-era fresco -- the spice is commonly used to flavour rice, chicken and fish but can also be found in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. At the local village of Krokos and in about 20 other neighbouring villages in Kozani, the inhabitants have systematically cultivated saffron since the 17th century.
Around 1,000 farmers live from the crop in the area and are intimately familiar with the microclimate that the plant requires .
