{"id":3607,"date":"2025-11-11T18:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T18:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/?p=3607"},"modified":"2025-11-11T18:15:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T18:15:26","slug":"historic-low-in-outdoor-saffron-production-growers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/2025\/11\/11\/historic-low-in-outdoor-saffron-production-growers\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic low in outdoor saffron production: Growers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Pampore, Nov 11:\u00a0<\/strong>In what has been described as one of the worst years for saffron cultivation in decades, growers across the Pampore belt \u2014 the heartland of Kashmir\u2019s saffron \u2014 say that both outdoor and indoor production have been severely affected due to poor-quality corms and erratic weather conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Saffron farmers said that this year\u2019s outdoor yield has been alarmingly low \u2014 the lowest in several decades. Compounding their woes, many could not even switch to indoor saffron cultivation, which has emerged in recent years as an alternative to overcome unpredictable climatic patterns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were hopeful that indoor cultivation would help us recover from the losses caused by erratic weather, but unfortunately, there were no quality corms available this season,\u201d said Ghulam Nabi, a saffron grower from Lethpora. \u201cThe corms available in the market were of poor quality, and planting them would have meant wasting both money and effort.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another grower, Abdul Ahad from Khrew, said that the prolonged dry spell during summer, followed by untimely rains, affected the soil fertility and the overall health of the saffron corms. \u201cOur corms have lost their vigour. They are getting smaller and weaker every year. Without good-quality corms, both outdoor and indoor cultivation are becoming impossible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The farmers also voiced concern over the large-scale selling of saffron corms outside the valley, which they believe has contributed to the shortage and deterioration of quality. \u201cThe government has stopped the sale, and there is a need for stricter action to fully stop the sale of corms outside Kashmir. These corms are part of our heritage and economy \u2014 their outflow will only accelerate the decline of this industry,\u201d said Manzoor Ahmad, another cultivator from Chandhara.<\/p>\n<p>Experts have repeatedly warned that without timely intervention, the traditional saffron cultivation \u2014 already hit by climate change, urban encroachment, and poor irrigation \u2014 could face irreversible decline.<\/p>\n<p>Growers are urging the government to establish dedicated corm multiplication centres and research units to improve corm quality and ensure their local availability. \u201cIf steps are not taken now, saffron, which once brought global recognition to Kashmir, will soon become just a memory,\u201d said a local saffron association member.<\/p>\n<p>Kashmir\u2019s saffron industry, centred around Pampore and its adjoining areas, once produced around 16 metric tonnes annually. However, the figure has steadily declined in recent years, leaving thousands of families struggling to sustain their livelihood<strong>\u2014(KNO)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pampore, Nov 11:\u00a0In what has been described as one of the worst years for saffron cultivation in decades, growers across the Pampore belt \u2014 the heartland of Kashmir\u2019s saffron \u2014 say that both outdoor and indoor production have been severely affected due to poor-quality corms and erratic weather conditions. Saffron farmers said that this year\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3608,"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-3607","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\/3607","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=3607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3609,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3607\/revisions\/3609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}