Once upon a time, Mohammad Shafi would go to the saffron fields and collect five to ten kilograms of saffron from one Kanal of land. Now he raises just two kilograms.
Kashmir is suffering from one the worst crises regarding saffron production this year. But this does not dampen the spirit of Shafi, as he is hopeful that he will soon be able to see a blooming display of saffron flowers.
Though those floods nearly cost Shafi everything. Saffron is sown at some point between mid-September to mid-October. At that point in time, even the first floor of Shafi’s home was inundated with flood water.
His piece of saffron land is just a few kilometres away from his home, but fortunately, it was not hit by the floods. Despite such chaos, he managed to reach his field, fertilised the land and had an incredible produce that year.
The government as also tried to help farmers during their crises. In 2010, the central government sanctioned ₹371.18 crore, via the National Saffron Mission, to halt the declining production of saffron in the valley. The cost of the project was then escalated to ₹411 crore. The government also dug more than 100 tubewells.
However, these efforts are mostly seen as failures. Many of the tubewells no longer work and production has not picked up on any significant terms.
Source: https://www.thebetterindia.com/121014/kashmir-shafi-qazi-saffron/
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