Ramadan Abdullahi is 60 years old and resident of Tajan village. In his younger days, he worked in Feyzabad and Mashhad, but he went over to agriculture and farmed in his...
Ramadan Abdullahi is 60 years old and resident of Tajan village. In his younger days, he worked in Feyzabad and Mashhad, but he went over to agriculture and farmed in his agricultural land in the Tajan village and around it, "Kalate Sheikh". He has two sons, both married, one in Tajan, a heavy-duty driver, and two children, the other working in the Kheidra Relief Committee and still has no children. Ramadan is currently working on a saffron, which is the product of most farmers in the region, whether it is to be picked up or not, but still hopes for its work.
A day with Ramzan in his farm
As a farmer, you faces many problems, Ramzan is no exception. He also suffered from the water crisis. Before the drought, the water in the qanat of his village was relatively abundant and he was able to irrigate his farm. But now it has been 3 years that he was forced to bring in water tanker in order to irrigate his farm. According to him, if it wasn’t for the drought, he would have owned two cows now. One bull to plough the land and a cow for the milk. Now he need to borrow the bull from someone in order to plough his land.
He however own 8 sheep, he fatten some of them in the house and some in the pen in the village. Additionally, he also has a donkey which he uses to lug the goods and plough the saffron farm. The donkey is his only farming tool (for ploughing the land). Sometime, when it became too difficult, he pays someone in the village who has the tilling tools to come do the job for him. He and his family harvest the saffron themselves, but to fill the flower ?? he paid 6 thousands toman per kilo to one of his relatives or neighbor to do the job for him.
Ramazan Abdullahi is a 60 year old farmer from the Tajan village. He has two sons, and both are now married. One of his sons lives in Tajan and has two children. His newly married son lives in another town called Khidra. Ramezan has agricultural lands both in Tajan and another village that is close to Tajan called “Kalate Sheikh”. He chose to purchase land in Kalate Sheikh because of the abundance of water resources in the land years ago. Unfortunately, it has been three years that there has been severe drought in the town and it has become necessary for Ramezan to transport water via tankers to his farmlands to water his lands. Presently, he plants only saffron and barley and because of the water crisis, it is not clear if yields in crops will ever revert back to the success that he had previously. In the past, Ramezan also served as a worker on the side of his farm work. This was something he would resort to when there was not enough farm work in his village. He would travel to neighboring towns such as Feizabad and Mashad and work in masonry. However, now he only works as a farmer.
Mr. Abdollahi owns eight sheep, some that he keeps in the village herd, and several that he keeps at home for fattening. He also owns a donkey, which he uses for plowing his land.
Ramezan says that if there was no drought, he would have purchased two cows; one to help plow his lands with and the other for supplying milk and yogurt for his family so that he would not have to rely on others for assistance.
Keshmoon is an online platform where saffron farmers working in Qaenat (South Khorasan) have the opportunity to market their saffron for consumers around the world to buy directly from their farms. On our website, you can find stories of the saffron farmers and become acquainted with the details of their personal lives as well as the various stages of farming. Through Keshmoon, you can choose your farmer and buy saffron directly from them.
In 2017, Keshmoon hosted a three-day tour to Qaenat to meet the farmers involved in our work and to witness firsthand the harvesting and drying of saffron. Over this one year, there were many people who were just getting familiar with our organization and this provided them with the perfect opportunity to experience our work personally.
This is why we have decided that this year during the harvesting season of saffron, which falls in November, we will hold a saffron tour and travel to the Qaen villages.
This trip will be held in cooperation with the Sepehr Cultural Development Foundation. The Sepehr Cultural Development is a fully-fledged organization that works to empower members of local communities and villages in the Qaen region. Since many of the villages we work in are involved with this organization, we decided to collaborate with this group for the tour.
Tour Location: South Khorasan Province, Qaen City, Tajen Village.
Date of Departure: 17:00, Monday 29th of October 2018, From South Tehran Terminal.
Return Date: 17:00, Thursday 1st of November 2018, Qaen Terminal.
The degree of Difficulty of Trip: Medium.
Capacity: Limited.
Travel Cost: 540 USD (includes round trip from Tehran)
Registration Method: Contact Number: +989157409204 (every day from 11:00 to 13:00 and also from 19:00 to 21:00)
Registration Deadline: Thursday 25th of October 2018
Necessary Supplies: ID cards, personal medications, warm clothes, comfortable shoes, sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses.
Tour Program: attend a saffron farm and engage in the harvesting of saffron, pick saffron flowers with the farmer and extract saffron from the flowers with the farmers themselves, stay in rural homes with locals, eat local cuisine, visit Tajen village, see live folk music
During the Saffron Harvest season of 2016, we hosted the first guests to Keshmoon farms. Below you will find the reviews of two foreigners who visited our farm to get a better understanding of the experience on our tour.
Rachel, Iranian-French Tourist
I traveled to Qaen from 28th to 29th October 2016 at the harvesting season. I came to write a photo article about Keshmoon and the work of saffron smallholder farmers of Qaen working biologically, but I left with much more.
I lived two extraordinary days with Mo’s family, who opened their doors, their heart and who offered us their trust.
At sunrise, we participated with them in saffron harvest, in a climate of peace and harmony I never experienced.
I left with beautiful pictures but above all with friends, a new family...
Betty, French Tourist
Unique and very interesting experience in the land of saffron.
First, meeting people of a very great kindness: the welcome of Mo's family really warms our hearts.
We discovered a new world, made of work and simplicity, within a beautiful nature. All generations are united in the effort to harvest this red gold! What hard work to produce this spice with perfume like no other in the world! A unique experience for me that left me the will to better know this region and the people who live there.
به منظور ثبت پیام برای کشاورز، ابتدا وارد سایت شوید؛ در صورتی که عضویت ندارید، ابتدا در سایت عضو شوید.
اولین نفری باشید که با Ramadan Abdullahi آشنا می شود، از او خرید می کند و نظرش را درباره زعفرانش می نویسد!