Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Mar 14: Saffron production surpassed 15 metric tonnes for the first time in nearly 25 years last season, thanks to timely rainfall that restored the declining crop yield and gave growers hope.
Saffron output has increased in recent years due to timely rainfall, according to officials, and the trend is expected to continue in the future since the sprinkle irrigation system adopted under the National Saffron Mission will be completely operational in the upcoming season. A Government official said that roughly 65 percent of the irrigation system is finished, and he believed the irrigation system would be finished this year.
According to the Agriculture Department, the production peaked at 15 metric tonnes in 1996 when the saffron land cover was around 5707 hectares. Over time, the land cover has dropped to about 3715 acres, and productivity has been declining, leading to many growers abandoning the crop.
However, crop yields have increased in recent years, with officials attributing the progress to the National Saffron Mission.
Saffron production had dropped by 35% (10.40MT) and the area under cultivation had fallen to 3,715 hectares when the National Saffron Mission was launched in 2011. This is the first occasion; however, that production has exceeded 15 metric tonnes, reaching 15.04 tonnes.
Suhail Ahamd, an official with the Agriculture Department, said that the reason for the good output was timely rainfall when the crop required it. “This crop needs moisture, and we got adequate rainfall for the crop to preserve moisture. Over the previous five years, production has increased,” he said.
He said that the National Saffron Mission’s technological assistance resulted in an increase in production. “In saffron cultivation, the department provides services such as intercultural operations, land management, seed quality, supplement-integrated nutrition, and pest management all played a role,” he said.
Saffron specialist Bashir Ahmad Elahi told Excelsior that growers should irrigate their land during the critical period of August 25th to September 5th. “The irrigating of crops for these 10 days can increase saffron output by 40 percent,” he added.
He explained that the country’s domestic demand is 100 metric tonnes, while Jammu and Kashmir only produces 15 metric tonnes, resulting in an 85-metric-tonne shortfall. “In order to minimize this, we must apply these interventions to satisfy that need, and irrigation is one such intervention where we can boost our output,” he said.
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