courtesy ht  JAN 22

New high: Kashmir’s saffron yield breaks decade-old record

A Kashmiri woman picking saffron flowers from a field in Pampore. HT FILE
Mir Ehsan

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

Srinagar : Kashmir’s annual saffron yield has crossed 13 metric tonnes for the first time in a decade with officials crediting a scheme launched in 2010 to boost its cultivation and introduction of sprinkle irrigation for the increase in the production. Saffron is considered to be the world’s most expensive spice and is known as the king of spices. It fetches between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh a kilogram.

Saffron production peaked in Kashmir in the 1990s with an annual average of around 15.5 tonnes. It has since declined as saffron fields mostly in Pampore near Srinagar depended on rain for irrigation particularly in September and October. Either too much or little rain has been among the reasons for the decline in production.

Kashmir is the only place in India, where saffron is cultivated. It is the region’s second-largest industry after horticulture and estimated to support around 20,000 families. Iran and Spain are among the only other places where the spice is grown in the world.

Chief agriculture officer Mohammad Qasim Ghani said the credit for the increase in the production goes to the National Mission on Saffron launched in 2010 under which root rejuvenation of the crop and sprinkle irrigation has been undertaken. He added there has more than 4.5 to 5 kilograms per hectare increase in the yield in the area where the scheme was implemented. “Kashmir has the potential to produce 6 to 7 kilograms of saffron per hectare. Earlier in the 1980s, our production was over 6 kilograms.”

Ghani blamed dry weather spells and a decline in the area under saffron cultivation among the reasons for the earlier dip in the yield. In a tweet, Jammu & Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s office lauded the achievement. “Great Achievement: Annual yield of the world’s costliest spice, #Saffron, cultivated in Kashmir has crossed 13 metric tonnes for the first time in the last 10 years.”

Zahoor Ahmad, a grower, said timely rain and snow has led to good production this year. “We hope that from now on the production will keep rising.” Officials said saffron is grown on 3,700 hectares of land in Kashmir. The Rs 410-crore National Mission on saffron has been implemented on 3,500 hectares. Of this, 3,200 hectares are located in Pampore, and the rest in Srinagar and Budgam.