Kashmir’s saffron growers experiment with indoor farming as climate pressures mount

PAMPORE: Tucked in a valley beneath the snow-capped Himalayas of the Kashmir region is Pampore town of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIJO&K) , famed for its farms that grow the world’s most expensive spice - the red-hued saffron.

This is where most of saffron is farmed in India, the world’s second-largest producer behind Iran of the spice, which costs up to 325,000 rupees ($3,800) a kg because it is so labour-intensive to harvest.

Come October, the crocus plants begin to bloom, covering the fields with bright purple flowers from which strands of fragrant red saffron are picked by hand, to be used in foods such as paella, and in fragrances and cloth dyes.“I am proud to cultivate this crop,” said Nisar Ahmad Malik, as he gathered flowers from his ancestral field.

But, while Malik has stuck to traditional farming, citing the “rich colour, fragrance and aroma” of his produce through the years, some agrarian experts have been experimenting with indoor cultivation of the crop as global warming fears increase.

About 90 percent of India’s saffron is produced in the IIOJ&K, of which a majority is grown in Pampore, but the small town is under threat of rapid urbanisation, according to the Indian Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).