Saffron Reality Check

A recent Iranian scientific review has laid bare long-ignored problems in Kashmir's saffron fields at a time when the crop faces climate and market pressure.

- Mumin Nabi Zargar

A group of Iranian scientists walked into Pampore this winter and said what many farmers here already feel.

Saffron in Kashmir is running on memory. In Iran, it runs on systems.

The five-day visit brought a senior delegation from Iran’s Ministry of ‘Agriculture to Kashmir under a joint programme hosted by SKUAST-K and ICRISAT. The team was led by Elham Fattahifar, who oversees greenhouses and medicinal plants in Iran, along with saffron scientist Parisa Pourali and field specialist Ramin Esmi.

They moved through saffron fields, sat with farmers, and spent hours with researchers.

Two of the world’s most important saffron regions were face to face. And the gap between them was clear.

Tran controls more than 90 percent of the global saffron market. Kashmir, once known for its finest strands, is watching production slide year after year.

The visitors did not doubt the quality of Kashmiri saffron. They questioned the system around it.

That contrast stayed with me as I walked through Pampore after they left.

This place is still called saffron country. The land does not always show it anymore. Fields that once turned purple in autumn lie bare in winter. Some carry weeds and stones. Others show only dry soil.

Farmers stand at the edges, staring down at plots their families worked for generations.

A government mission once promised to fix this. It brought crores of rupees, bore wells, sprinklers, and paperwork. What remains are pipes that never carried water and trust that never recovered.

Kashmir once produced close to eight metric tons of saffron a year. Today, it struggles to touch three. In just over a decade, cultivation has dropped by more than two-thirds. The area under saffron has shrunk sharply.

Around 30,000 families once depended entirely on this crop. Many now weigh a hard choice between staying with shrinking returns or leaving the village for other work.