The gesture is precise and delicate, the choreography skillfully orchestrated. Bodies curved, hands tirelessly plunge towards the ground to pick the Crocus sativus whose purple petals release the filaments of saffron.
Added to the difficulty of harvesting are the inconveniences of climate change. “Drought increases the amount of green plants around the flower, reducing its growth and productivity”explains Markos Pournaras, 36-year-old producer. “The flower should be taller and stronger, the saffron filaments thicker. But it's not raining at all! » he laments, squatting in the family farm passed down from generation to generation, in Kozani, in the north of Greece.
Precipitation at half mast
As a child, Markos remembers harvests in the snow, his hands frozen by the cold. He is picking today under blue skies and spring temperatures. The month of October 2024 is the driest in the last fifteen years in Greece, with less than 10% of precipitation recorded on average over the period, and production…
