PAMPORE, October 31: A saffron grower from Pampore, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Bhat, has harvested more than 100 kilograms of saffron flowers this season, attributing the encouraging yield to timely irrigation of his fields.
Bhat, a resident of Munpora and son of Ghulam Hassan, invested his own resources to dig a borewell on his land to ensure a reliable water supply for his saffron fields. He said the decision had helped him irrigate the crop at critical stages and contributed to the bumper flowering witnessed this year.
Talking to Kashmir Convener, Bhat said he had not anticipated such a good harvest and credited timely irrigation for the results.
He said irrigation was important before, during and after the flowering period. His family begins watering the fields in August, ahead of the pre-flowering stage, and irrigates them two to three times before flowering, besides providing water after the flowering period.
“Hard work is important, but timely irrigation plays an equally crucial role,” he said, adding that adequate water at the right time was essential for a good saffron crop.
Bhat also pointed to shortcomings in the irrigation infrastructure developed under the National Saffron Mission, launched in 2011. He said around 125 borewells had been dug under the mission but felt that the large catchment area assigned to each borewell had limited their effectiveness.
According to him, each borewell was expected to cater to around 600 to 700 kanals, making it difficult to serve farmers whose small landholdings were scattered across different locations.
He suggested that restricting the catchment area to 50–100 kanals per borewell could have made the irrigation system more effective.
Bhat said that although his area also had a government-provided borewell, its diesel consumption and maintenance costs made it expensive to operate. He therefore opted for a privately dug borewell powered by electricity, for which he had obtained the required power connection.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Extension Officer Pampore Mir Ashiq Hussain said the saffron harvesting season was underway, with encouraging flowering reported from several growing areas.
He said replanting undertaken last year under the Jammu and Kashmir Competitiveness Improvement Project (JKCIP) was beginning to show results, with flowering reported in Pampore, Munpora, Konibal, Dusoo, Ladhoo, Chandhara and Lethpora.
Hussain said the previous year’s dry spell had affected flowering, while timely rainfall this season had helped the crop.
He, however, said flowering had started relatively late and remained at an early stage. The department was hopeful of a good harvest as flowering progressed in the coming days, he added.
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