Farmers Bear The Brunt Of The Failure Of The National Saffron Mission

Kashmir is globally renowned for the production of its golden crop- saffron. The fields which should have been brimming with the purple buds of saffron currently stand dried, with not many buds in sight, even as the peak season of the crop is underway. The state is witnessing the worst yield in fourteen years, the prolonged dry summer last year and the failures of the governmental policy- the National Saffron Mission combined have led to a 95 per cent decline in crop production. 
Earlier this year in August, the contractors who were roped in for the implementation of the scheme stopped their work due to non-payment of funds for over a year. Abdul Majeed Wani, a cultivator from Pulwama says, “There are outstanding liabilities of dues worth Rs. 20-30 crore to the farmers and the contractors. Over the last few years, the skewed implementation of the policy has failed the vision of the scheme.”

The ambitious National Saffron Mission, initiated in 2010, was born out of a vision to revive the traditional saffron cultivation in areas of Jammu and Kashmir. The government of India had initially sanctioned Rs. 371.18 crore to help generate a good yield and prevent its decline. Under the scheme, every farmer was promised a sum of Rs. 25,000 for each Kanal (unit) and would be encouraged to adopt new technologies like seed diversification and transformation. The project was aimed at improving the saffron production by providing quality seeds and uninterrupted water supply. The task was entrusted in the hands of the Agriculture Department and the Mechanical Engineering Department, who were responsible for providing seeds and hiring contractors to lay down pipes, dig borewells, and install sprinklers for water supply. 

A drip irrigation system and Rs. 24 crore for investment in a saffron park were also proposed. Unfortunately, the grandeur of the plan was not channelled by the government into substantial action on the ground. Irrigation which is the key component of the scheme is now turning into the biggest reason behind its failure. Under the mission, 126 bore wells had to be dug to provide irrigation facilities to nearly 2,400 hectares of saffron land. However, on the ground, only 101 borewells were dug under the central scheme, of the total 126 proposed. The scheme also envisaged a sprinkler system of irrigation that would help overcome dry spells. The scheme proposed that the borewells would be connected with an equal number of sprinklers. However, only 8-10 sprinklers were found functional on the ground. The process of irrigation also suffered a major setback over the years due to the accumulation of non-payment to the contractors. Despite progress being made to complete the work, their functionality could not be ensured. This led to protests against the MED which was not paying heed to the demand of the contractors, who then resorted to a lock down of the main office of the department, earlier this month. The lack of irrigation equipment also added to the farmers’ woes, Majid Wani explained, “Even when the equipment reached the farmers, it was too advanced for the farmers to grasp, they were not trained to use these tools.” 

A major demand by the protesting farmers and contractors now is to centralise the implementation of the scheme under the Agriculture Department of the state. Currently, there are four main departments involved in the Saffron mission: The MED and the Agriculture Department as well as the contractors and the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKAUST). Protesters believe that due to the blame game among the stakeholders, the process of the completion of the mission has been delayed. The scheme was initially supposed to be implemented within five years, but due to the delays and loopholes in the administration of the programme, an extension was given in 2015, which was revised in 2017. Even after the investment of over Rs. 400 crore, the fulfillment of promises under the scheme seems like a distant dream. The farmers have incurred huge losses and the contractors are demanding assistance from the center. Wani added, “There is no money left, the central government should have stepped in long ago to provide funds.”

A major reason for flaws in the implementation of the scheme has also been the unchecked and unabated construction activity in the area which was meant for saffron cultivation. Despite the implementation of the Saffron Act in 2007, the acquisition of land for residential purposes and grabbing of land by powerful entities has gone unchecked and with the shrinking space, the cultivation of saffron has been badly hit. 
With the protesting farmers and the contractors at the verge of bankruptcy, the government has ceased to live up to its vision and its promises. Climate change has certainly played a key role in the decline in production. However, the lack of political interest in the issue has taken the cultivation of saffron from being a matter of pride for the farmers to an uneconomical, less profitable profession in just over a decade. From what the situation currently looks like, the peak season for the cultivation of saffron may stand wasted. With the governor’s rule implemented in the state, a delegation of the farmers and the contractors are expecting to renew their demands and begin a fresh set of negotiations. The land owners are hopeful yet again that the voices of despair will finally be heard and negotiations may improve the situation.