This refers to the news "Growers concerned over sale of duplicate saffron" (GK Oct 17). It is a matter of great satisfaction that the government has taken keen interest in eradicating the elements engaged in producing spurious saffron, last year. However, all the stakeholders in the field need to remain cautious to not over amplify this issue because the proportion of spurious saffron produced was very little in comparison to the genuine saffron produced by thousands of hard working farmers. It is our collective responsibility to keep a close eye on the elements that engaged in this activity and bring them to justice. However, we also need to bring back the market confidence this year. This year the government, farmers and traders need to take urgent steps to ensure standardization of the saffron produced at the proposed Saffron Mandi to be established at Pampore. The present market price of saffron does not even cover the production costs, not to speak of making profits. This is a catastrophic situation for this sector. Entrepreneur ventures like KCSF find it extremely difficult to recover even our investment costs. Our plans of introducing our own brand and support government efforts of creating a Geographic Indicator (GI) for Kashmir Saffron stand dented because of these developments. We also believe that for making things more inclusive and adding value to this sector, there is a great need for the Agriculture Department, SKUAST and the Saffron Growers and Dealers Association (SGDA) to involve the growers of the Charar-i-Sharief and Badgam belts, like KCSF, also in the process of discussions, awareness and information dissemination. We remain totally out of the loop despite being registered members of the SGDA. The farmers of Charar-i-Sharief/Badgam belts stand committed in extending our complete support to government/SKUAST/SGDA initiatives to increase saffron production and enhance the quality and ethical business practices in this field. 

 Abdul Hameed
Kashmir Countryside Saffron Farms (KCSF)
Charar-i-Sharief, Badgam

Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Oct 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 IST