The Saffron of Kashmir: The Golden-Red Threads that have captivated the World

By Arka Chakarborty

In a freezing November morning, fields encircled by snow-capped mountains shine bright purple with flowers in full bloom. Women and men walk in these fields, gently collecting the flowers and putting them in their wicker baskets. This would be the scene greeting a stranger who finds himself/herself/themselves in the tehsil of Pampore, district Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. To the uninitiated, this might strike as an instance of commercial cultivation of flowers bound to decorate some vases. This, however, is the beginning of the process of the manufacturing of one of the most expensive spices in the world: Saffron. Kashmiri Saffron (crocus sativus kashmirianus) has been cultivated in the valley for centuries and is highly valued worldwide for its superior quality as compared to other varieties of the spice. Although not native to the region, the spice has nevertheless become a part of the valley’s culture and heritage. Today, it is regarded as one of the most iconic aspects of India’s crowning jewel.

The English word Saffron is derived from the Arabic ‘Zafaran’ which literally means ‘yellow.’ The purple crocus flower, the natural source of saffron, grows in the wild as crocus cartwrightianus. However, the plant grown to manufacture the spice commercially is a different species altogether: crocus sativus. Saffron is not native to Kashmir. Its earliest homeland seems to have been Greece, where it was found as early as the 6 th century BCE. The Romans are said to have used saffron as a deodorizer. Its aromatic, medicinal and culinary uses have been well- known since ancient times. Some of the richest royal potentates like Cleopatra VII are said to have used saffron as a cosmetic product.

Like so many aspects of Kashmiri culture, the origins of saffron here are also shrouded in mystery. Numerous stories greet the inquisitive listener. Some say that it arrived in Kashmir with Persian traders from Iran around 500 BCE. Others posit that immigrants from Central Asia brought it to the Vale in the 1 st century BCE. Still others opine that in the 12 th century CE, two travelling Sufi saints, Khwaja Masood Wali and Hazrat Sheikh Sharif-ud-Din, gifted a bulb of saffron to a Kashmiri chieftain who had cured them of a disease. Many others point to the Mughal period (16 th -17 th centuries) when the abundance of saffron used in their cuisine really popularized the spice in the mountainous province. No matter where or when its true origin lies, the red spice has since been integrated into the regional culture. Testaments to this truth can be found in the Kashmiri cuisine where brews like the Kahwa and culinary traditions like wazwan make liberal use of the spice; in traditional medicine where the spice is used in precise and minute quantities in numerous medicinal concoctions and even in literature, where legendary poets like Habba Khatoon mention the beauty of saffron as a part of daily life.

Saffron is cultivated in Kishtwar, Budgam and the environs of Srinagar (Central Kashmir) and Pulwama (South Kashmir). It is, however, the tehsil of Pampore within the district of Pulwama where the cultivation of saffron takes on an almost industrial scale. By the late twentieth century, Pampore was producing around 80-90% of the total saffron in the erstwhile state. Over 16000 families across 226 villages in the area are engaged in saffron cultivation and production. Local culture seems to be more intensely centered around saffron than in the rest of the Union Territory, with the first day of harvest being an occasion for celebration at the shrine of the saint Hazrat Sheikh Sharif-ud-Din.

The general process of the cultivation and manufacturing of Kashmiri saffron is as follows: firstly, the seeds of the crocus plant are sown around July-August-September either manually or by the use of machines. Then, harvest takes place from late October to mid-November. This step of the process is dominated by women. Thereafter, the petals and stigmas of the flowers are separated according to the order of importance. Every crocus flower generally has three stigmas containing yellow and red threads. After that, the red threads are dried in the sun and pure saffron is extracted from the same. The newly extracted saffron is finally dried over the heat of charcoal fire.

The process of saffron production mentioned above is an oversimplification when one considers the fact that Kashmiri saffron has many varieties based on the manufacturing process: ‘Lachha Saffron’ in the case of which the stigma is separated from the flower and then dried without any more processing; ‘Mongra Saffron’ in the case of which stigmas after being separated from the flowers are dried in the sun and then processed traditionally; and ‘Gucchi Saffron’ which is manufactured like Lachha Saffron but packed loosely in air-tight containers. There are also regional varieties like the Kishtwari Saffron. Kashmiri saffron is one of the world’s costliest spices- a kilogram of the red spice is valued around 250000 rupees and can be sold in international markets for as much as double that price. It is because of this that the spice is popularly referred to as the ‘red gold.’ This is partially because of the sheer amount of intensive labor that it takes to manufacture it- around 150000 flowers are used to manufacture a single kilogram of saffron. The superior quality of the spice also accounts for it. Crocin, a chemical that gives the spice its natural color and medicinal properties, for example, is approximately 8.72%, while the same chemical is around 6.82% in Iran’s saffron.

In spite of its undeniable quality and worldwide demand, Kashmiri saffron has been facing an array of troubles lately. Negative changes in soil quality due to an array of factors have led to a steep decline in the production of the spice- culminating in an abysmal annual output of 1.5 metric tons (MTs) in 2011-12. This decline has been facilitated by farmers switching to other, less labor-intensive horticulture endeavors like apple production. This process has been further accelerated by farmers losing hope in future profits as Kashmiri saffron production continues to decline. A massive catalyst in this decline is the conquest of the world market by Iranian saffron. Although of a markedly poorer quality, Iranian saffron dominates its competitors in terms of production, generating a highly impressive 300 tons annually. It currently accounts for 80 90% of the world’s saffron and its far more affordable prices have led the Kashmiri saffron traders into a corner. The price of Kashmiri saffron has halved since 2007 due to this menace.

Even after all these tremendous blows to the sector, planned and energetic steps are being taken by the government and non-governmental entities to revive the sector’s former prosperity In 2010, the central government launched the National Saffron Mission, a Rs. 4000 million initiative to boost the production and quality of saffron and to increase the growers’ income by employing scientific techniques to rejuvenate saffron bulbs, increasing groundwater irrigation through bore-wells and sprinklers and constructing a saffron park with mechanized processing, testing laboratory and e-trading facility. Each year at the end of October, the government of Jammu and Kashmir organizes a Saffron Festival which aims at raising awareness about Kashmiri Saffron by giving tourists the chance to buy directly from the saffron producers. Moreover, organizations like New Kashmir Agro, Kanz and Mul and Urban Kisaan are working establish Kashmir’s saffron business on a stronger footing in the global market. As a result of all these efforts, the saffron cultivation in the valley has made a turn for the better, presenting a record-breaking yield of 15.04 MTs. Recently, Kashmiri saffron has entered the GI Registry, making it illegal for any entity outside the region and manufacture and sell saffron using the tag of Kashmiri saffron.

The journey of Kashmiri saffron has spanned centuries, perhaps even millennia. A plant originally foreign to the valley, crocus sativus and the saffron that comes from it have taken root in the hearts and minds of not only the Kashmiris, but Indian in general. It has awed the world with its captivating texture, color and fragrance. Recent downturns in the saffron production and manufacturing process and stiff foreign competition have come close to crippling its standing in the global market, but consistent efforts on the part of successive governments and non- governmental entities have managed to cause a new boom in the sector. This truly exhibits the feats that united efforts in defense of our cultural heritage can achieve. For the moment, it seems that Kashmiri saffron will retain its place of value and prestige in our national and global landscapes.