Fall, the season of saffron harvest in Kashmir valley, presents to the visitors the brief window after the summer rains with the valley adorned with greenery. After the November harvest, the fields stay untouched until the following August. The red threads of saffron, the trident of stigmas, converge onto a white stalk within the pistil. The people involved in the saffron culture kept separating the pistils from the rest of the flower to build the mound of pistils as the tired petals piled up in a communal heap of mauve.
Harvesting saffron involves hours of chatting with the locals. We chatted while plucking the flowers on the way home, pulling out the pistils, and setting the pistils and petals out to dry. When we booked one of the India Travel Tours to Kashmir during the saffron season, we loved watching spreading petals out to dry in the yard.
Kashmir’s storied saffron is known for its intensity of color and flavor and is held to be the best.
Kashmiri saffron threads are in high demand because they are long to the Iranian short, while the hue is a rich maroon to the more orange Spanish variety. The essential aspect of saffron season is the flower used in saffron production. Once the pistils dry, the red stigmas get separated to yield the top-grade ‘mogra’ saffron, while the white style yields saffron used in flavoring paan. Also, the yellow stamens are separated from the petals. Kashmiri saffron is routinely tainted with lower-quality Iranian saffron, and people purchase it from various urban markets.
The peak flowering saffron harvest season lasts less than ten days, around the start of November. My visit was in early November.
Farooq Ahmad Dar, a seasoned farmer from Samboora village in Pulwama district, is rejoicing over the season’s first saffron harvest. However, what sets this year apart is his unconventional approach to saffron cultivation, bringing a new level of enthusiasm to the local farming community.
Moisture-retaining properties of the soil play a vital factor in the production of saffron, and it is something worth watching for yourself when you are in Kashmir. The fresh flowers harvested spark enthusiasm among the local farming community. While our visitors booked a North India Travel Package with us and met the local farming community, we learned about the importance of moisture retention in the soil, especially during September and October, which guarantees successful saffron cultivation.
Also, one of the senior farmers stated that planting almond trees in Karewa land aids moisture retention by providing shade to the saffron beds. Also, he explained the critical nature of the period between August 25th and September 5th. This period witnesses the growth of corm roots, crucial for the new sprouting season, and lately, Concerns have arisen among saffron growers due to a dry spell in August and September.
We inferred from arranging one of the India Holiday Tours to Kashmir during the saffron harvesting season that the journey from cork to flower is intricate. The striking saffron flowers begin to emerge on October 10th, and the blooms extend up to November 10th. Each farmer enjoys up to five turns of harvests in a season. It can be rightfully stated that The essence of saffron lies in its prized stigma, carefully dried and used as a flavourful addition to beverages, a valuable spice in cuisines, and a key ingredient in various medicinal preparations.