{"id":2819,"date":"2025-11-01T18:27:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T18:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/?p=2819"},"modified":"2025-11-01T18:27:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T18:27:24","slug":"saffron-town-sees-90-dip-in-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/2025\/11\/01\/saffron-town-sees-90-dip-in-production\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Saffron town sees 90% dip in production\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Srinagar, Nov 01:\u00a0<\/strong>Kashmir\u2019s famed saffron sector is once again staring at a severe crisis, with growers warning that this year\u2019s output has plunged by nearly 90 per cent.<\/p>\n

Farmers in Pampore, known as the \u201cSaffron Bowl of Kashmir\u201d say that production this season is barely 10\u201315 per cent of normal levels, pushing thousands of families into economic distress.<\/p>\n

Growers concern that if corrective measures are not taken immediately, the crop, which has defined Kashmir\u2019s identity for centuries may vanish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year the corms haven\u2019t sprouted properly at all,\u201d said Abdul Majeed Wani, president of the Saffron Growers Association J&K.<\/p>\n

He said, “Production is hardly 15 per cent. It isn\u2019t even half of last year\u2019s crop, which itself was only about 30 per cent of the normal harvest. Every year it is decreasing, and the government doesn\u2019t seem serious about safeguarding this sector.”<\/p>\n

Wani said the main problem lies in repeated long dry spells, lack of effective irrigation, and the poor quality of corms available in recent years.<\/p>\n

The growers have appealed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Agriculture Minister to personally intervene and take emergency steps. They demanded immediate irrigation facilities, regular monitoring of saffron meadows, measures to stop illegal extraction and selling corms, and availability of quality corms for fresh replantation<\/p>\n

The area under saffron cultivation in Kashmir has shrunk from 5,707 hectares in 1996\u201397 to just 2,387 hectares in 2019\u20132020 \u2014 a reduction of 65 per cent.<\/p>\n

Government data shows that production fell from 17.33 metric tonnes in 2021 to 14.87 MT in 2022, and marginally rose to 14.94 MT in 2023. However, last year\u2019s output has been reported to be only around 30 per cent of normal production.<\/p>\n

However, growers argue these figures do not reflect the reality at ground level.<\/p>\n

According to them, last year\u2019s real output was barely 20 per cent of an average harvest \u2014 and this year they expect similar or worse output.<\/p>\n

While the National Mission on Saffron (NMS) has revived some fields through sprinkler irrigation systems and farmer awareness programs, experts caution that the impact remains limited. \u201cThe siphoning off of corms and poor land management practices continue to negate the gains achieved under the mission,\u201d said an agricultural scientist from SKUAST-K.<\/p>\n

Pampore\u2019s saffron – prized globally for its deep colour, aromatic thread, and medicinal value – has been more than just a crop for the region. It has been a cultural marker and a source of livelihood for thousands of families.<\/p>\n

“Revival of saffron isn\u2019t just about saving a crop; it\u2019s about preserving a tradition, a culture, and an identity,\u201d said a group of distressed growers from Pampore. \u201cIf immediate and effective measures aren\u2019t taken, by 2030 there may be no saffron left in Pampore.”\u2014(KNO)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Srinagar, Nov 01:\u00a0Kashmir\u2019s famed saffron sector is once again staring at a severe crisis, with growers warning that this year\u2019s output has plunged by nearly 90 per cent. Farmers in Pampore, known as the \u201cSaffron Bowl of Kashmir\u201d say that production this season is barely 10\u201315 per cent of normal levels, pushing thousands of families […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2821,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2819\/revisions\/2821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}