The reason why saffron doesn't get cheaper is interesting

I read an article on GIGAZINE about "the reason why saffron doesn't get cheaper," and the content was very interesting.

Saffron is known as the "world's most expensive spice," but the reason for this is not simply because it is rare.

According to the article, saffron is made by manually picking only the tips of the "pistils" of the flowers. Moreover, only three can be harvested from a single flower. To harvest a large quantity, an unimaginably large number of flowers must be processed by hand. This alone is enough to understand why it is so expensive.

What was even more surprising is that all commercially produced saffron crocuses are clones.
Since it is a plant that cannot produce seeds, it would go extinct if humans did not continue to propagate the bulbs.

And that is exactly why saffron remains expensive today.

The fact that it cannot produce seeds means that it cannot be improved through crossbreeding like typical plants. Therefore, it is difficult to significantly increase harvest yields or create varieties that are easier to cultivate, and productivity cannot be dramatically improved even after many years.

I thought, "I see, that's what it is."

Plants without seeds are not something I am very familiar with, and I had vaguely assumed that "selective breeding can be done with any plant." Now that it's been pointed out, it's obvious, but since there are no seeds, there can be no crossbreeding, and that idea had never occurred to me at all.

Hmm. Interesting.
It's because of articles like this that I can't stop surfing the internet.

It is a short article, but it explains the question "Why is saffron so expensive?" in an easy-to-understand way from the perspectives of biology, history, and agriculture, and it was very rewarding to read. I especially recommend it to those who like trivia.