by Daniel Wang
For centuries, the saffron industry has sustained Kashmir, a contested border region between India and Pakistan. The spice, valued at roughly $1,550 per pound, has supplied farmers with a consistent source of income for decades. Recent crop yields, however, have been consistently dearth. The paucity of saffron is a direct result of drastic alterations in precipitation patterns and may become even more severe due to India’s revocation of Kashmir’s special status as a semi-autonomous province. Since Partition, the region was granted unique rights due to its hybrid Hindu-Muslim population. However, on August 5, 2019, these conditions were revoked by the Government of India. The local Kashmiri people, who have been trapped in a lengthy political struggle between Pakistan and India for decades, feel that the declining saffron industry reflects the tumultuous political reality of their province. Likewise, saffron production has become entangled in an international geopolitical crisis. The current horticultural crisis began when saffron production in Kashmir dropped by over fifty percent from 1997 to 2002. This dramatic drop in harvest was a result of antiquated agricultural practices which lead to the depletion of the region’s soil. To make matters worse, annual precipitation has considerably dropped since 2002. For example, annual rainfall plummeted from 1,500 mm in 2000 to 400-500mm last year. Snow patterns similarly shifted, dropping from 2-3 feet to several inches by 2018, decreasing the moisture retention of the soil. Since saffron plants are extremely sensitive to weather and only flower in mid-October, these drastic changes in climate caused crop failures throughout the region. In recent years, the government has been ineffective at modernizing the region’s cultivation practices. In 2010, the National Saffron Mission, a 4.1 billion rupee initiative, was established to educate farmers, improve seed quality, and implement irrigation systems. This costly venture, however, did little to improve the impoverished and unproductive terrain. The value of farmland plummeted and, as a result, many farmers migrated out of Kashmir. Simultaneously, the Indian government’s oppressive attempts at silencing political dissenters in the region increased distrust between landowners and officials. This disjunct between local producers and the national government only worsened the industry. Successful solutions to the saffron crisis require state involvement in modernization and the recognition of farmers’ rights to preserve their own land. These two opposing interests cannot be simultaneously satisfied in the heated geopolitical climate that currently dominates Kashmir.
Sources:
Ahmad, Mudasir. "Is It Too Late to Save Kashmir's Purple Fields?" The Wire. Last
modified January 2018. Accessed November 2019. https://thewire.in/
agriculture/late-save-kashmirs-purple-fields.
Deepak, Sharanka. "'This Land Is Meant Only for Saffron. Without It, It Means
Nothing.'" Eater. Last modified February 2019. Accessed November 2019.
https://www.eater.com/2019/2/13/18212411/
saffron-kashmir-india-most-expensive-spice-climate-change.
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