19.11.2020 / Students in Zlataritsa grow the most expensive spice in the world
Source: Yantra DNES newspaper
Author: Nikolai VENKOV
Students from the Vocational School of Agricultural Mechanization “Nikola Zlatarski” in Zlataritsa grow the precious spice saffron. It is obtained from the flowers of saffron crocus. It is a perennial flowering plant in autumn, which is unknown in the wild. Saffron contains over 150 essential and aromatic compounds, as well as many non-essential active ingredients. This makes it highly valuable in both cooking and medicine.
The idea for planting and growing the plant in the Zlataritsa school is a result of the participation of a high school student in the competition of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Education and Science – “My farm”. With the help of his teacher Nadezhda Topalova, the boy made a project with which he won an award. As a result, the school team considers that the idea is attractive, as nowhere in the district of Veliko Tarnovo is saffron grown and decides to try it. Thus, in the school park for conducting practical classes for students is allocated half a decare of land, which is sown 100 kg of corms. The yield for the first year is expected to be around 70 grams. It remains to be seen whether the location and climatic conditions will be suitable for planting seedlings next year. The 17 tenth-graders, who take care of the field with the exotic plant, study the technology for growing and extracting saffron in the optional class on “Ecology and my farm”. Our goal is to do something new to apply for an innovative school. In itself, this culture is innovative for Bulgaria. It is grown in very few places in the country. From it, only the three red threads of the flower are used, which are called stigmas. They are separated and dried at a specific temperature, mode and time, at which the aim is to reach a certain humidity. The company from which we bought the corms had a certificate for them. She advises us on the whole technological process and will guide us in the certification of our products in France, as there is no such laboratory in Bulgaria,” Topalova said, who is a teacher of theoretical training in the high school and project manager. She added that the corms are planted 10 cm deep in the soil, because this is the “golden mean”. The optimal planting depth is from 8 cm to 15 cm, and the deeper the plant is sown, the greater the quality of the stigmas. If it is shallower, it blooms and multiplies more, but the quality of the stigmas is lower, the teacher explains. Manuring is not with mineral fertilizers, but with compost or peat, which contributes to the ecological purity. Saffron is picked every day, early in the morning. The stigmas are cleaned and dried immediately so as not to impair their quality. “The vegetation period for saffron is about 50 days. In our country, due to the climatic features and the prolonged drought, the term has been extended. We sowed it on September 4, and harvested the first crop on October 31, Topalova said.
One week ago “Nikola Zlatarski” was approved under the project “Innovation in Action” and as a non-innovative school will visit the Vocational School of Agricultural Technology “Tsanko Tsarkovski” in Pleven. The desire of the management of the Zlataritsa school is to exchange good practices and experience for participation in another program of the Ministry of Education and Science for acquiring the status of an innovative school.
The high school also has the opportunity to partner with the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries (APACCCEEC). The Demonstration Zone of the Association at the Ministry of Agriculture is located in the experimental fields of the Agricultural University in Plovdiv, where saffron is also grown.
“We want our school to continue to grow in the field of innovation in the next few years to enable our students to receive modern training and be competitive in the labor market,” said the management. They believe that the introduction of a new subject such as “Ecology and my farm” and the cultivation of saffron are two of the ways for high school graduates to develop entrepreneurship. Their responsibility to take care of the farm will make them more self-disciplined, motivated to work in the specialty and confident in their own success, said the team of the high school.
Nikola Zlatarski School in Zlataritsa was founded in 1919 as a winter agricultural school. In 1967 it was transformed into a Secondary Vocational Technical School, where students are trained in the specialties “Mechanic in Agriculture” and “Electrician of Agricultural Machinery”. In 1984 the specialty “Mechanic in forestry” was opened in it. In 2003 the school was transformed into a Vocational School of Agricultural Mechanization. It currently trains students majoring in “Agricultural Machinery Installer” and “Metalworking Machine Operator”. The school has specially equipped classrooms for traffic safety, tractors and cars, agricultural machinery, a computer room and cozy classrooms. After graduating from high school, its graduates, in addition to their profession, come out with several categories of vehicle management, as well as a certificate for working with chainsaws and brush cutters.
