Srinagar- Kashmir's world-renowned saffron industry is facing one of its worst crises in decades, with growers in Pampore - famously known as the“Saffron Bowl of Kashmir” - reporting a staggering 90 per cent drop in production this season.

Farmers say the crop, once the pride of the Valley and a centuries-old symbol of its cultural and economic identity, is now on the verge of extinction unless the government steps in with immediate and decisive intervention.

“This year the corms haven't sprouted properly at all,” said Abdul Majeed Wani, president of the Saffron Growers Association J&K.“Production is hardly 15 per cent - not even half of last year's, which itself was barely 30 per cent of normal. Each year it's declining, and the government doesn't seem serious about saving this sector.”

Wani and other cultivators blamed prolonged dry spells, lack of irrigation, and the poor quality of corms available in recent years for the unprecedented decline. They urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Agriculture Minister to personally intervene, ensuring regular monitoring of saffron fields, strict action against illegal corm extraction, and supply of quality planting material.

Official figures show the area under saffron cultivation has shrunk by over 65 per cent in two decades - from 5,707 hectares in 1996–97 to 2,387 hectares in 2019–20. Production has dropped from 17.33 metric tonnes in 2021 to just 14.94 MT in 2023. However, growers say even these numbers understate the crisis, claiming that last year's real output was closer to 20 per cent of normal levels - with this year's yield expected to be worse.

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