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I heard saffron could be a viable alternative cash crop.
by sharpn 17y ago
I heard saffron could be a viable alternative cash crop.
- riffic 17y agountil people figure out how to get high on saffron instead.
- hughprime 17y agoSounds a bit unfair to all the saffron farmers in other countries. With half the land in Afghanistan suddenly devoted to saffron production, the value of saffron will plummet. Meanwhile, Afghan saffron farmers will be selling their saffron to the US government for some insane price. If I were a foreign saffron farmer I'd be pretty pissed off. Oh, and the number one saffron producer at the moment is Iran, so you'd probably get a vast industry in smuggling Iranian saffron across the border to be sold in Afghanistan. Oh, and also the drop in opium production will raise opium prices, and so you'll need to keep raising the Afghanistan saffron buying price in order to keep it more attractive than opium farming. I foresee all sorts of unforeseen consequences, and those are just the foreseen ones!
- sharpn 17y agoI agree with the problems you mention, and the likely unintended effects. My point was that it might be a least-worst-option alternative. I suspect there are no perfect solutions that can be imposed onto the Afghan people from outside.
- fizx 17y agoIt would be pretty sweet for us if we could convince them to grow biodiesel.
- modoc 17y agoHow about FOOD!
- aaronblohowiak 17y agoThere is no food shortage. There is a food distribution problem.
- modoc 17y agoAfghanistan is having massive food shortages and food prices are through the roof. Hunger is a VERY serious problem there. Growing corn for biodiesel would make very little sense.
- JimmyL 17y agoIf the could grow corn or soybeans - which are the main feedstocks for biodiesel - it would be better for everyone if they just used it for food production, as opposed to refining it and shipping it over here.
- aaronblohowiak 17y agoWhere would they get all that water? Corn is a VERY thirsty crop, wheras opium poppies actually produce more alkoloids when given less water.
- JimmyL 17y agoI don't think they could - hence, one of the many reasons that they don't grow it. I'm saying that if they had the capability to grow corn, as fizx suggests, then it would be better to use that corn for food, as opposed to biodiesel.