Saffron leader guides over a hundred members to wealth together

At the three-level cadre meeting of Wangdian Town held not long ago, Tianhe Saffron Professional Cooperative, located in Taipingqiao Village, Wangdian Town, was awarded the title of "Excellent Enterprise," and the cooperative member Sun Yongzhong also received the plaque for the town's "Top Ten Distinctive Agricultural Entrepreneurship Leaders." This is a cooperative that has been established for less than 6 years, yet it has already developed 106 members, planted a total of more than 500 mu of saffron in the Jiaxing area, and achieved annual sales of more than 10 million yuan. Last week, the reporter interviewed the cooperative's head, Zhu Zhiming, and listened to him recount the development history of his saffron industry.

"When people hear 'saffron,' their first reaction is that it is grown in Tibet. In fact, this is a misconception; Tibet is not the place of origin of saffron." Zhu Zhiming told the reporter that the scientific name of saffron is also fanhonghua or xihonghua. It originated in Spain, and countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia also have a long history of cultivation. When it was introduced to China from Iran, it passed through Tibet, so it is called saffron. In fact, due to climate and other reasons, saffron has a very high yield in northern Zhejiang, and he is the "lead brother" of saffron cultivation in the Jiaxing area, having been engaged in this business for 11 years. At present, in addition to Wangdian Town, he also has bases in Xincheng Town and Haiyan County.

In 2010, Zhu Zhiming, whose hometown is in Chengnan Street, rented 35 mu of land in Wangdian Town, established Tianhe Saffron Professional Cooperative, and began introducing, breeding, and cultivating saffron. After learning from experts at the Zhejiang Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, improving the soil in experimental fields, and other cultivation processes, Zhu Zhiming mastered a unique set of planting standards and became the general agent in the Jiaxing area for Iranian saffron. The corms he planted in the early period were all introduced from Iran.

Every year at the end of November, the corms are planted, and by the middle of May of the following year they are dug up and placed indoors for cultivation. After half a year, beautiful purple flowers bloom, and what is truly precious is the stigma wrapped inside the flower. Each flower has only three stigmas, which have high medicinal value. "After the flowers bloom each year, it is the busiest season for the cooperative. We need a large amount of labor working overtime to pick the stigmas. If they are not picked within three hours after blooming, they are 'spoiled.'" He said, "Saffron has very good economic benefits. The market price of top-grade stigmas is about 180 yuan per gram, so it is also called 'red gold.'" It is reported that the saffron produced by Tianhe Cooperative is currently mainly sold to Tibet, Guangdong, and other places, and there are also related specialty stores in Jiaxing.

Although the upfront investment cost is relatively high, planting for one or two years basically allows recovery of the investment, and the later returns are also very high. This is the confidence behind Zhu Zhiming's development of more than a hundred members. He said that the net income per mu of saffron is about 10,000 yuan. The amount planted by members ranges from a few mu to dozens of mu. Since they began growing saffron with him, the members' wallets have gradually bulged. As the "lead brother," he promised to provide each member with free technical services for two years, and at the same time tried to help members open up sales channels. At the Jiaxing agricultural exhibition held on the eve of the Spring Festival, just a few days of exhibition and sales brought in more than 100,000 yuan in revenue, which made Zhu Zhiming even more confident. But he said that in the next few years he plans to reduce the planting scale and put more energy into serving members, leading everyone to wealth together.