STATE TIMES NEWS
KISHTWAR: Kishtwar which is known as land of saffron and sapphire all over the country. But nowadays the famous saffron is losing its charm and ground to other crops due to pathetic and callous attitude of Govt and concerned Department.
The Botanical name of Saffron is ‘Crocus Sativas’. People of Kishtwar call it ‘Kung’. Its Persian name is ‘Zafron’. It is popularly known as “Kesar” throughout the country.
The quality of Kishtwar Saffron is superior to that of Pampore in Kashmir.
It all depends upon the quality of land, climate of the place and technique of plucking flowers, separating of red and yellow carpels from the petals. It requires moderate rain during the period of planting of bulbs and flowering.
According to Saffron Growers of Kishtwar, they claim that they grow the best saffron” but the all attention goes to Kashmir only.
They said that this year the quantity of Saffron goes down due to dry spell and also due to lack of assistance by the agriculture department of Kishtwar as well as Saffron Development Office of Kishtwar.
Every year saffron grows once a year in September-October. The stigma of the delicate purple coloured flower is used as spice.
“Our saffron is best because we pick the flower before sun rise and that is one of the secrets of its quality,” said saffron grower Mohinder Singh Parihar of Kishtwar.
Satish Kumar former Sarpanch Matta-B said that we grow 2.5 to 3 kg of saffron from one acre of land and we the farmers earn about Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.2 lakh every year from saffron production.
The state produces 8.5 metric tonnes of saffron every year. This year the productivity of safffon goes down to 80% and all saffron cultivating farmers get huge loses. The saffron growers have sought financial assistance to clear outstanding KCC loans.
