Saffron
Saffron is a cool-temperate herbaceous crop that grows best in the 7–19°C range with 800–900 mm of rain, cropping over a 180–210-day season.
How it grows
Saffron is borne on the flower-head of an upright plant.
Where Earth's climate suits saffron
Climatic suitability only — scored for every 0.5° of the planet from this crop's temperature and rainfall tolerances (FAO EcoCrop) on AgroClim 1991–2025 normals (AgERA5 temperature, CHIRPS/ERA5 rainfall). It shows where the rain-fed climate permits the crop, not where it is grown today; irrigation lets many crops thrive in drier country than the map suggests (California, Egypt, the Indus and Nile).
Who grows it — and where the climate merely allows it
Climate envelope · FAO EcoCrop
Deep bar = optimal range; pale bar = absolute tolerance. Beyond the pale bar the crop fails. Latitude tolerance ±60° · soil pH 5.5–7.8.
Growing calendar & hazards
An annual cycle of roughly 180–210 days from sowing to harvest, so it is timed to fall within the frost-free, adequately-wet part of the year for the location.
- Drought. Relatively drought-hardy, but a failed rainy season still cuts yield sharply where irrigation is absent.
- Heat. A cool-season crop that bolts or fails in summer heat; best grown in the shoulder seasons or at altitude.