Starting before dawn has even broken, Afghanistan’s army of saffron pickers shift their way across sun-baked fields to pluck brightly the coloured crocuses that are providing the country’s farmers with a new means of income.
The delicate pistil of the flower has for centuries been used in cooking around the world and because of its relatively high price has been dubbed “red gold” by those who rely on its cultivation.
Joma Khan is one of the 156,000 seasonal workers who help harvest the spice, earning about $1 an hour.
afp