Saffron kindles hopes of farmers of Idukki in Kerala

Compared to vegetable farming, saffron farming required more care, said a farmer named Ramamoorthy, who has been involved mainly in vegetable and strawberry cultivation.

Thiruvananthapuram: The successful farming of saffron from Kashmir in the high-range district of Idukki in Kerala is giving fresh hopes to farmers of the region.

Following recent reports of the successful cultivation of saffron at Kanthalloor and Vandanmedu regions of Idukki, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) under the ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application, Research Institute, which made the initiative, is getting lots of enquiries from farmers of Idukki on taking up saffron cultivations.

The KVK is now planning to try saffron cultivation in at least 15 farms in various parts of Idukki in the coming year as a prelude to promoting commercial level cultivation.

Kanthalloor region, which is often referred to as 'Kashmir of the south' owing to similarities in climate, had earlier successfully carried out apple and blackberry cultivation too.

KVK scientist Sudhakar Soundarajan, who has been involved in the saffron cultivation at Idukki by bringing corms from Kashmir, told DH that every day many farmers from Idukki were making enquiries regarding the scope of saffron cultivation.

Saffron farming was carried out in 25 cents in Kanthalloor and the result was almost 100 percent. In Vandanmedu the farming was tried in ten cents and 80 percent of the plants flowered. Apart from the open farming, KVK also developed a mini indoor saffron cultivation model using poly house, he said.

"We have been working on saffron farming in Idukki since 2020. Last year though the plants flowered, untimely rain damaged the crops. Now we have found that November - December would be the ideal period for harvesting," Soundarajan said.

He also said that the saffron cultivated in Idukki were found to be better than that of those cultivated in Kashmir with regard to dimension of the flowers, which could be due to the supplements made in the corms as part of researches. The quality test results are still awaited.

Saffron, which is now cultivated only in Kashmir in India, fetches a price of around Rs 300 per gram. Up to two kilogram saffron could be cultivated in one acre.

Farmer Ramamoorthy, in whose farm the saffron cultivation at Kanthalloor was carried out, said that many farmers were now showing interest in taking up saffron farming as it might give better returns. Compared to vegetable farming, saffron farming required more care, said Ramamoorthy, who has been involved mainly in vegetable and strawberry cultivation.

He said that delay in payments from government agencies for vegetables procured was a major crisis being faced by vegetable farmers of the region. Hence many are exploring new options.