AgriBiz
Udhampur youth makes saffron cultivation possible in uncultivable terrain
Inspiration
At a time when people in Kashmir are losing interest in saffron farming, an Udhampur youth has won many accolades for making profitable cultivation of the world’s costliest spice in parched lands of this mountainous district.
Born in a family of farmers in Mir village of Panchari area of Udhampur district, Angrez Singh became the household name for his hard work and dedication not only in his village but to the whole union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for successfully growing saffron in his fields despite the high temperature in the district.
“I have put in a lot of efforts and hard work as growing saffron in the first place was not an easy job that too in a place like Udhampur,” Singh said.
“Youths should cultivate saffron in their abandoned fields. One can earn his livelihood decently.”
Saffron is cultivated in regions that are about 1500-2800 meters above sea level, where there is snowfall in winters. September to October is the right time for planting saffron tubers. The quality and price of saffron are determined by its colour, taste, and aroma.
Angrez has been into saffron cultivation for the last many years with limited resources available in the area. The Mir village where Angrez grows saffron is located at an altitude of 1761m above mean sea level and is almost 40 km interior of Udhampur’s main town with very limited connectivity.
“Climate of Panchari is very cold. Saffron needs one thousand chilling hours (minus seven degrees temperature) in a year. I planted saffron bulbs in Mir village of Panchari, which is getting a good yield for three years. Its seed (bulb) will be prepared after the completion of four years,” said Singh.
Angrez Singh started saffron cultivation in 2018 under the NMHS project on his land in the far-flung area of Udhampur district with limited resources available in his area.
“Angrez showed a lot of dedication from the very beginning of the project and without his dedication, it was not possible to grow saffron at the place where Angrez lives because it’s a far-flung area with limited resources available. Angrez Singh is the role model for the young generation and youths interested in farming should follow Angrez,” said Dr Amjad M Husaini Principal Investigator NHMS project at SKUAST-K.
Angrez Singh has also been receiving inputs and guidance from the project staff “A Value Chain of Saffron in New Areas of NW Himalayas by Engaging youth and Women for Strengthening a Bio-Based Green Economy” on regular basis and has been growing saffron successfully.
“Without the support and direction of Dr Amjad M Husaini things would not have been possible for me,” said Angrez Singh.
Besides, Kashmir’s Pampore, the crop is at present grown in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir and the annual production stands at seven tones. The demand for saffron is much more than the annual production of saffron in India. Most of the saffron is being imported from Iran to meet domestic demand. Iran is the world’s leading producer of saffron, with 300 tons produced each year followed by Spain and India.
“Farmers can earn good profit by adopting this model in climatic areas like that of Panchari,” said Angrez Singh, who has also worked on floriculture and mushroom cultivation in Panchari earlier, which has benefited many farmers.
Angrez Singh won the best farmer award at the two-day international conference on “Saffron and Seed Spices-Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Development” held at SKUAST-K Shalimar campus in the early spring. The conference provided a multi-disciplinary forum for scientists across the globe particularly in India, Iran, Spain, Morocco, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.
In the inaugural session, a few publications related to saffron cultivation and practices were released, among which “saffron cultivation in Kitchen Gardens” by Dr Husaini is of special interest to the common people who wish to cultivate the crop in their kitchen gardens for domestic use thereby boosting the immunity of children.
“We have similar results in the village Gandhari, Ramban where another progressive farmer Rehmatullah Rounyal got the best saffron award last year in 2020 from the district administration,” said Amjad Husaini, “more farmers like them should come forward so that we can expand this prestigious crop in suitable non-traditional areas”.
Angrez Singh is extremely proud of his achievements and wants to cultivate more saffron in the coming future because saffron has given him “fame, recognition, and money”.
“I want to excel in this field because it gave me everything,” he concludes.