Ground translation must: Experts

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 16

Two weeks after Kashmir’s famed saffron got the GI tagging, the Centre has announced an economic package to help the locals engaged in the trade to go global with their specialty products.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a Rs 10,000-crore fund to help local micro-food enterprises go global with their speciality products such as saffron in Kashmir, ragi in Karnataka and “makhana” in Bihar.

Kashmiri saffron, known for its quality and aroma worldwide, is cultivated over an area of 3715 hectares in the highlands of Jammu and Kashmir, including in places like Pulwama, Budgam, Kishtwar and Srinagar.

Kashmiri saffron witnessed a price drop of 48 per cent after 2007, when cheaper Iranian imports to India grew substantially. Its productivity also fell from annual 17 tonnes in 2010 to just 4 tonnes in the past few years.

Abdul Majeed Wani, a saffron grower and president of the Saffron Growers Association Kashmir, said the GI tagging would set apart Kashmir’s high-quality saffron from the cheaper varieties of Iran, Spain, and Afghanistan.

Wani said the government’s intent seems pro-farmer, but the change needs to be translated on ground. “We only want the government to provide us proper irrigation system and help farmers set up seed nurseries for increasing productivity, which has taken a hit due to the continuing draughts in the past several years,” Wani said.

Director Agriculture, Altaf Aijaz Andrabi, said multiple measures had been taken to infuse economic stimulus to the agriculture sector by providing need-based credit to the farmers which would help them procure critical inputs, thereby increasing the production and productivity.

The Centre has also allocated Rs 500 crore for bee-keeping to benefit two lakh bee-keepers of the country.

Boost for saffron

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a Rs 10,000-crore fund to help local micro-food enterprises go global with their speciality products such as saffron in Kashmir, ragi in Karnataka and “makhana” in Bihar.