Saffron blooms in Rajouri as cultivation trial bears fruit.

SHYAM SOOD
RAJOURI JANUARY 04:– The District Administration & the Agriculture Department’s joint experimental project for the cult ivation of Saffron in Rajouri district has yielded positive results as the saffron blooms in the field of a farmer selected for the trial in the Kot Dhara village.
The District Administration took the project to be taken on an experimental basis after it was influenced by the cultivation of Saffron in Kishtwar district of Jammu province.
The Agriculture department selected Darhal sub-division for the trial cultivation of the Saffron because the terrain & climatic conditions are almost similar to that of Kistwar.
“Vishal Chander Sharma, farmer in Kot Dhara Panchayat was motivated for the trial cultivation on 15 marlas of un-irrigated land. Accordingly, Saffron seed (ora) was purchased by the Agriculture Department from Pampore Kashmir and supplied to him along with fertilizer, labour charges, etc.” said an official.
With no prior experience in growing saffron, the help of the experts from Kishtwar was sought who assisted Vishal in the cultivation of the saffron, he added.
The sowing of the seed was done on August 24, 2021 but after 3-4 days of sowing, there were heavy rains for 28 days affecting its germination and delayed sprouting. Cultural operations were done during the entire process.
Blooming started on December 12, and flowers bloomed the same day. The blooming process continued for 15 days, resulting in 734 flowers in total and on average 45-50 flowers per day. Plucking of the flowers was done on the same day of blooming.
Stigmas were separated from the flowers on the second day of plucking.
“The sweet and pleasant fragrance of the flowers was a matter of great pleasure and encouragement for us” said Vishal..
Now the challenge for the Agriculture Department and the farmer is protection, preservation and multiplication of the seed for future cultivation.
Vishal was previously dependent on subsistence agriculture and was cultivating wheat and maize, but now he is keen to cultivate saffron crop in his fields to earn more income to improve his socio-economic status.
Saffron cultivation has long been restricted to a limited geographical area in J&K, mainly Pampore, followed by Budgam, Srinagar, and Kishtwar districts.
“Successful conduct of saffron cultivation trial has encouraged the District Administration and the Department of Agriculture for extending Saffron’s cultivation to other areas where the farmers could be benefitted economically,” said an official.
District Administration Rajouri under the leadership of DC Rajouri, Vikas Kundal is making persistent efforts to ameliorate the socio-economic condition of the farmers by motivating them to go for commercial agriculture.