J&K has competition with saffron surprise in Northeast

Jammu and Kashmir’s monopoly on the cultivation of saffron, whose fragrance spices up the famed Kashmiri cuisine, may not last long.

An ambitious attempt to grow the much-coveted spice is underway in the Northeast, which enjoys similar climatic conditions as J&K.

The Northeast Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR), an agency under the Union ministry of science and technology, successfully grew the spice at Yangyang in south Sikkim. Now, it is trying to do the same on the hills of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

“The success of our pilot project at Yangyang suggests that the climate and soil in some other high altitude places in the Northeast are conducive for commercial cultivation of saffron,” Krishna Kumar, a scientist at NECTAR, Shillong, told DH on Tuesday.

“We are in talks with the National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh, and a few agencies in Mizoram and Meghalaya for taking up cultivation and post-harvest activities so that we can gradually encourage farmers and entrepreneurs in the Northeast.”

Krishna Kumar said the purpose of the project was to “reduce prices of saffron” and “provide livelihood options to farmers and entrepreneurs in the Northeast”.

“Our field survey has shown that there is a huge potential for saffron cultivation at several places in the Northeast,” he said.

The Sikkim Central University carried out tests to understand the soil and actual pH conditions of Yangyang and found it comparable to saffron-growing places of Kashmir.

Saffron seed/corms were purchased and transported by air from Kashmir to Yangyang by the university.

The corms were irrigated during September and October, which ensured timely corm sprouting and good flower yields. Similar climatic and geographical conditions between Pampore, known as the saffron bowl of Kashmir, and Yangyang led to its successful sample farming.