After years Kashmir sees a bumper harvest of saffron

After years, the saffron farmers of Kashmir valley are happy. It's a bumper crop this year. The late rains across the Kashmir Valley, have helped the farmers with the best produce after a long time.

Farmers associated with saffron are busy plucking the saffron flowers from the fields. Around 3700 hectares of land are being used for the cultivation of the crop. The Pampore area in Pulwama is the main hub, although now the crop is being cultivated across different districts of Kashmir valley as well.

''It's a good harvest this season, the produce is much better than the previous years. It was really less in the last 5-6 years, but this year due to rainfall it is a good harvest. Kashmir saffron is of the best quality and it has a lot of medicinal properties. We are hoping that the government will help us to market the saffron. The GI Tag will help us a lot. The rains are the main factor for the increase in the produce'' says a farmer, Zahoor Ahmad Kuchay.

The farmers have been demanding that the rates of saffron should be revised. With everything becoming expensive in the market and also the process involved in growing and processing saffron, the saffron farmers say the rates need to be increased for them to sustain.

'This year the produce is much better than last year. We are hopeful the market will grow since we have a lot of production this year. The saffron rates are not growing, and we want the government to intervene to increase the rates. It's very expensive to grow saffron and we need the government to revise the rates. We have been demanding it for a long time now '' said Sahil Ahmad Yatoo, Farmer.

The tourists coming to Kashmir Valley are visiting these saffron farms. For some of them, this was their first exposure to saffron farming and they were impressed with the farmers' efforts.

''I am seeing it for the first time. Kashmir is famous for saffron and I am getting happy to see the saffron flowers. It's beautiful and now I see how difficult it is to grow. Salute to the farmers who are growing it. We use it in making desserts, pregnant women have it. It has a lot of nutritional value. '' said Rukesh, Tourist.

The government has also begun GI tagging Kashmir Saffron, which will boost sales of saffron across the world.