SRINAGAR: Jehangir Bashir, a saffron grower in Pampore of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district is delighted. It took a whole day for him to cultivate his farmland. “This year, it took us [our family members and friends] the whole day to harvest the saffron yield. In previous years, it used to take us 15-60 minutes to harvest the crop,” Bashir said. “This year, the crop has blossomed at its ripe time. The yield will be bumper,” he added.
The saffron, also known as “red gold” for its special aroma, flavour and colouring agent, is mostly cultivated in Pampore and adjoining areas in south Kashmir. According to revenue records, nearly 3,700 hectares of land in Jammu and Kashmir is covered under saffron cultivation. Of it, over 3,650 hectares are in Kashmir while 50 are in Kishtwar. In the valley, a maximum 3,300 hectares of saffron land is in Pulwama while remaining in Srinagar and Budgam districts.
Last year, Kashmir produced 15.62 metric tonnes of saffron while in 2021, it was 15.54 metric tonnes.
Like Bashir, most of the saffron growers in Kashmir are rejoiced as the valley may see a record saffron yield this year owing to timely rainfall and conducive climatic conditions. In the saffron fields of Pampore, which is also known as ‘saffron town’, there is a festive atmosphere with the men, women, children and elderly people busy harvesting the yield in their fields.
Another saffron grower Khurshid Ahmed said it is after many years that he is expecting a record bumper saffron yield this year. “Everybody is happy as people have worked very hard in their fields,” Ahmed said. He, however said the yield would have been much higher had the proper irrigation facilities been provided to the growers by the agriculture department.
“As many as 128 borewells were dug up to provide drip irrigation facilities to the saffron fields but unfortunately only a few are functional,” Ahmed claimed. Over the “non-availability” of irrigation facilities, the director of the agriculture department Kashmir Choudhary Mohammad Iqbal said, “We are working to improve the irrigation facilities in the fields. Engineering work is underway.”
Iqbal said the way saffron fields are in bloom, there will be a bumper crop. “There was a delay of one week due to snow and rain in the upper reaches. The saffron needs a temperature of 19-21 degrees and once it improved, the saffron flowers blossomed and we are witnessing a bumper crop,” the director said.The agriculture department is working on a trial basis to start saffron cultivation in north and central Kashmir as well, he added. The harvesting of saffron starts from October 15 and continues till November 10. The growers pick up saffron flowers 6-7 times from their fields during the harvesting.
The per kg GI-tagged saffron comes for `2 lakh per kg. Saffron production in Kashmir, which is mostly cultivated in Pampore in south kashmir’s Pulwama district near the National Highway, crossed 13.36 tonnes in 2020, the most in a decade, which can be attributed to the introduction of a government scheme.