Dry weather affects saffron production in Indian held Kashmir

Drought affects saffron production in Indian held Kashmir

Owing to prolonged dry weather and regional government’s nonchalance to the needs of the farmers, the production of saffron has reduced sharply in the Indian held Kashmir.

One of the few crops in the Kashmir valley is saffron, which has a major portion in the entire South Asia. Moreover, it is also conceived the best in the world because of pureness and better taste and has a high demand nationally and internationally.

However, the production of the crops has been reducing for the last couple of years and farmers blasted the state government for the sorry state of situation.

Growers claimed that few years ago, one hectare of land was producing one kilogramme of saffron, but now the production has decreased down to 50 per cent.

A farmer from Pampore, Ali Mohammad Dar, said that the production of saffron mainly depends on rains and for the last two years weather has persisted dull and dry, which has cut down the yield. He further added that the outcome will further drop if the drought
prevailed.

The farmers stated that they asked the state government on numerous occasions, requesting it to provide water pumps for watering saffron corps. However, the government set up only a few pumps, which are not sufficient for the complete farming areas.

Dar commented that there should be at least one water pump for every hectare of land.

Agricultural experts were of opinion; a disease namely Corn-not is also affecting saffron flowers over the last few years, which has also brought down the overall production of the crops.

In the meantime, the experts appealed of the agricultural scientists to focus more on the fields instead of agricultural institutions.

Experts also expressed reservations saying that dealers of the valley began mixing deficient saffron with the Kashmiri product, which is ruining natural cleanliness and standard.

The farmers claimed that the low price of Iranian saffron, accessible in the area, is key reason for the decline in demand for their crop and asked the state government to impose import tax on Iranian saffron to maintain its prices with the Kashmiri production.

Another cultivator said that time is not far when people will use their saffron fields for other functions if the lack of interest on the part of the government continues in the areas.

It is vital to mention here that Saffron crop is mainly farmed in Pampore and bordering areas. Conversely, growers are converting their fields for housing and industrial purposes, motivating the government to think for banning the construction work.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Nov 23 2011. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry