Prepare a Comprehensive Strategy today to Reap Bumper Saffron Harvest in fall 2025

Saffron or Crocus sativus, is an invaluable niche crop of Kishtwar district in Jammu division, J&K. Agriculture Department, Kishtwar (Nov. 22, 2023), estimates annual produce of 9 to 10 quintals from an area of 202 hectares that is cultivated organic by default as well as consciously. 4670 farming families inhabiting a cluster of 19 villages are engaged in the profession. Estimated value of the produce is Rs. 20 crores to 22 crores. The estimates show a considerable scope for expansion as the total potential area for saffron crop in the district is about 742 hectares which includes about 50 hectares of agricultural land designated as nontraditional and 692 hectares as traditional area.

- C M SHARMA (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Retd.)

The per unit monetary value of saffron, its livelihood generation potential and aesthetic value are many times higher than any other crop of the area. Ironically, the production per unit area and economic returns to producers aren't satisfying, despite of better production and marketing incentives provisioned under various government schemes during the past few years.

Ramesh Kumar Bhagat a senior agriculture expert of Kishtwar attributes this negativity to frequent and prolonged dry spells, a slump in marketing of Kishtwar saffron in recent years and the consequent aversion of youth towards this occupation. He says, “The cost of labour and inputs are continuously increasing, but the price saffron growers get for their hard laboured and once ina year produce has remained stagnant during the past 15 to 20 years at Rs. 2500 to 3000 per 10 grams of the dry produce.

The reported influx of cheaper adulterated produce from countries like Iran has very adversely affected the market for local produce, he says, and stresses the urgency to take up the issue at appropriate higher levels and resolve it at the earliest so that local farmers don’t lose interest in the occupation for good. He suggests enforcement of total ban on import of adulterated saffron from abroad.