Snow causes 5% loss to crop
Suhail Bhat
Pampore, Nov 21: The untimely snowfall that Kashmir witnessed last week diminishes the hopes of saffron growers in the South Kashmir’s Pampore by damaging the last batch of flowers, drastically reducing the overall production.
Saffron growers usually pick three-four batches of flowers in one season. “The harvest season has ended and we have not received flowers equivalent to the first batch,” Abdul Hameed, a saffron grower said, adding if the decline continues with the same pace there would be no traces of it in the next decade.
The saffron growers blamed the Government for the decline in the crop as they allegedly failed to set up irrigation system under National Saffron Mission. The irrigation system consists of laying the water supply pipes and installing the sprinklers and the system was being set up to manage the drought issues affecting the area. But the failure of authorities to complete the project has resulted in the drastic fall of the production over last two-three years. As per the official records, production in 2016 decreased from 4.2 kilogrammes per hectare to 1.4 kilogrammes per hectare.
Experts said that the climate variations have led to prolonged dry spells in the post-monsoon period over the last three years. The post-monsoon period starts from the month of October and lasts up to early December and its during this time the saffron needs precipitation. “It needs water in early October and after December,” a grower said, adding the climate remained dry during this time for last few years.
The rainfall deficit has directly affected crop production. In 2012, the year precipitation decreased, Mohammad Ramzan sold his produce to a local trader for Rs 4.3 lakhs. “From that time production has come down drastically. In the last two years, the production would at least allow us to bear labour costs. But this year we won’t receive anything.”
However, to mitigate the losses, the Government planned to install a sprinkling system of irrigation but the project is yet to be completed with the Department of Agriculture and MED blaming each other for failure.
Executive Engineer MED, Abdul Rasheed, when contacted said that the Agriculture Department was not ready to take over the bore wells the department has completed. “At least 75 bore wells are complete and ready to be used but Agriculture Department is showing reluctance,” he said.
In last nine years, Government has drilled nearly 90 bore wells needed for the irrigation of saffron fields but a majority of them lay defunct. Officials in Agriculture Department said that the mission envisaged establishing 109 bore wells with 100 per cent project support. However, authorities have managed to run a few bore wells.
In order to increase saffron production and to bring more land under saffron cultivation, Government of India sanctioned an ambitious Rs 400 crore National Saffron Mission in the year 2010. The scheme was launched by the Centre in partnership with the State with the aim of raising production from 3 kg to 5 kg per hectare but even after nine years, the scheme is yet to make an impact.
Majid Ahmad, a saffron grower, said that thousands of growers who are cultivating saffron on over 3000 hectares of land would have availed the irrigation facility and it would have also doubled the production. “It would have doubled the production but the authorities have failed to provide the irrigation facilities when growers need it,” he said.
Castigating the Government over its failure to enable the irrigation facilities, he said: “It’s total failure on the part of Government that has inflicted huge losses on the growers due to their poorly managed irrigation facilities. The irrigation system is in place but it is poorly managed,” he said, adding that plenty of irrigation wells have been dug but authorities have failed to put them to use.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
