Jahangeer Ganaie
Pampore, Oct 25: The continuous dry spell in Kashmir over the past several months is likely to impact saffron production this year.
Saffron growers from the Pampore area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district said that the lack of sufficient rainfall this autumn will adversely affect saffron yields.
Ghulam Rasool, a grower from Dusoo Pampore, said while there was light rain in September, it was inadequate for proper saffron cultivation. “The ongoing dry conditions have affected the majority of crops this year, and saffron will also be impacted,” Rasool said, adding that moderate rain in the next week could still benefit the crop.
Khursheed Ahmad, another grower, said countries like Iran, Spain and Afghanistan enjoy good saffron yields every year due to their effective irrigation systems, which are lacking in Pampore. “We typically experience good autumn rains, but this year we have had almost none, and that will certainly affect production,” he remarked.
Ahmad said the government has invested crores of rupees to boost saffron production in Pampore, yet the vital drip irrigation facilities remain non-functional.
Other growers said while these systems were installed years ago, most have never been operational due to unclear reasons. They said if drip irrigation facilities were made functional, growers would not have to rely solely on rainfall, allowing for timely irrigation and potentially better saffron production. They have appealed to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to address this issue and enhance saffron production.
Saffron production has declined by over 67% from 2010 to 2023.
According to details, saffron production in Jammu and Kashmir has declined from 8.0 metric tons (MT) in 2010-11 to 2.6 MT in 2023-24, marking an overall decrease of approximately 67.5%. However, there was a slight recovery in the last year, with a marginal increase of 4% from 2022-23 to 2023-24.
Officials said that in 2013-14, saffron production was 14.01 MT, with a yield of 3.82 quintals per hectare. This fell to 5.57 MT in 2014-15, with a yield of 1.52 quintals per hectare. In 2015-16, production rose to 16.17 MT, yielding 4.41 quintals per hectare, and increased further to 16.45 MT in 2016-17, with a yield of 4.49 quintals per hectare.
However, production took a downturn in 2017-18, dropping to 5.20 MT with a yield of 1.42 quintals per hectare. In 2018-19, production slightly increased to 5.65 MT, yielding 1.54 quintals per hectare. By 2019-20, production fell drastically to just 0.02 MT, with a yield of 4.44 quintals per hectare.
In the following years, production remained stagnant, with 0.02 MT recorded in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, yielding 4.92 quintals per hectare each year.
