Northeast India has always attracted people’s attention for its rich and diverse culture, ethnicity, and geography. This region is also the geographical ‘gateway’ for much of India’s flora and fauna and houses many endemic floras as well as faunas. This time, the region has caught attention for its potential to become the next ‘Saffron-hub’ of India after the Pampore region in the UT of Kashmir.
NATURALLY BLESSED SAFFRON
Saffron, the dried stigmas of saffron flower, is the most expensive spice in the world. Known locally as kesar or zaffran, it is also referred to as ‘Red Gold’ due to its high cost and high demand. Saffron is a slender, reddish-brown flattened stigma of saffron flower which is a rich source of carotenoids. Chemically, saffron is composed of more than 150 bioactive compounds. The presence of these bioactive compounds, such as crocin, picrocrocin and safranal, provides several health benefits and therefore, saffron is widely used in medicines. Several important pharmacological properties including anti-cancer, hypolipidemic, anti-diabetic, anti-convulsive, anti-depressant, anti-psoriasis, anti-seizure, anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, anti-genotoxic, and antidote have been attributed to the bioactive compounds of saffron. Saffron is used as medicine to treat stomach disorders, bronchitis, asthma, diabetes, scarlet fever and cold, chronic uterine haemorrhage, amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, smallpox, insomnia, and cardiovascular disorders. It is also widely used in the textile and cosmetic industry.
HIGH DEMAND, LOW SUPPLY
For the past few years, there has been an increasing demand for this spice, which the production has not been able to meet. The national demand of saffron is 100 MT per year but production is only approximately 10 MT (as per data for the year 2020-21). To fill the gap of demand and supply of saffron both in the domestic and international markets, efforts are being made to explore alternate strategies for upscaling saffron production. The need to increase the productivity of saffron spice and the rich geographical diversity of Northeast (NE) India has led to bridge the gap between far north and northeast through saffron cultivation initiated by the Northeast Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR), an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.
CULTIVATING SAFFRON IN NE
NECTAR carried out a pilot cultivation during 2021-22 in four NE states, viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Sikkim. A total of 17 cultivation sites were identified following Geospatial techniques with the geographical and climatic parameters of Pampore region of Kashmir as standard reference. The success of this trial farming of saffron clearly indicates that ‘Nature and the land of North-East accept saffron crop as the climate is favourable for its cultivation in the region’.
All Images Courtesy: Dr Arun K Sarma
IDENTIFICATION OF CULTIVATION SITES
NECTAR initiated this project on mission covering different places in four states of the NE in collaboration with state government departments under one umbrella to execute ‘Mission saffron’ with various collaborative partners in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Mizoram. Complete assessment using the basic requirement of science & technology, related to flowering yield, corm survival rate, multiplication of daughter corms and soil profiling was carried out by NECTAR in respective sites. The cultivation sites were then categorized under three categories; high potential sites that showed flowering accompanied by > 50% corm survival rate and multiplication rate of daughter corms; medium potential sites that showed flowering, corm survival and multiplication rate between 10-20% and low potential sites showing low flowering rate with no multiplication of daughter corms. Positive outcome from the pilot cultivation in terms of flowering, corm survival rate and multiplication of daughter corms paved the way for carrying forward the project on a larger scale for the year 2023-24. Currently, large scale cultivation is ongoing in two locations, which are Menchukha in Arunachal Pradesh and Yuksom in Sikkim, with approximately 10 quintals of saffron corms in both the sites and continuation of pilot cultivation in medium potential sites, to further validate site suitability. A total of 83 farmers (22 in Sikkim, 46 in Arunachal Pradesh and 15 in Meghalaya) and counting are now reaping the benefits of NECTAR’s saffron cultivation project.
Cultivation steps were modified as per the prevailing climatic condition and soil type of different cultivation sites. Saffron corms were sown between last week of September and first week of October. Soon after, flowers started blooming in all the fields. NECTAR’s vision is to make the NE region as the next ‘Saffron-hub’ of India after Pampore in Kashmir. This will not only fill the gap of demand and supply of saffron by an increase in the productivity of saffron spice in India but also open a new venture for alternate livelihood activities, which might boost the economic status of the NE farmers.
IDENTIFICATION OF CULTIVATION SITES
To identify the potential location(s) for saffron cultivation, the geographical and climatic condition of Pampore region of Kashmir was taken as a reference and a detailed survey was carried out in different geographical locations of the North-eastern region through GIS application. Parameters such as soil type, soil pH, temperature, relative humidity, moisture content, rainfall and elevation were taken into consideration. A total of 17 sites were identified within the North-eastern region. Thesesites are Chug, Dorjeeling, Shergaon and Walong in Arunachal Pradesh, Laitkor, Mairang, Nongshilliang, Thangsning, Umpling and Upper Shillong in Meghalaya, Ailwang, Lunglei and North Vanlaiphai in Mizoram, and Lachung, Phengla,Sajong and Yoksum in Sikkim.
For example, Chug is a small village located on the bank of river Kameng in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. Chug lies close to Tibet in the north and Bhutan in the west. It is a low altitude (4900 ft) mountainous region situated between Bomdilla and Tawang. It has a mild, cool, temperate climate throughout the year, and it receives snowfall between November to February. This place is best known for its hot water springs and kiwi orchards. Fig. 1 (a) shows geo tagging data of Chug, one of the sites for saffron cultivation in Arunachal Pradesh.
Similarly, Lachung region is in North Sikkim is considered another place as shown in Fig. 1(b). It is blessed with splendid Himalayan sceneries, rhododendron sanctuaries and is filled with rich biodiversity which fills up the soul to ultimate peace. Lachung is one of the passages to Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary, Yumthang Valley and further up to the Zero Point. Lachung sits at 8,610 ft amidst sky-touching peaks, gurgling streams and beautiful apple orchards.
LAND PREPARATION, SPACING AND SOWING:
Land preparation is an important step in saffron farming. Prior to planting corms, land was made weed free by ploughing so that the soil attains fine tilth stage as soil loosening before planting results in better growth of corms. Soil was then enriched with organic matter before sowing of corms. After preparation of the cultivation land and a detailed demonstration by the experts, corms were sown in the prepared beds at a depth of 12 to 15 cm with occasional irrigation.
Flowering initiated as anticipated in all places during the first year itself, which is unusual as comb requires some time for acclimatization. Due to proper soil and climatic conditions of these places along with the flowering, the daughter corms started growing in all sites. Formation of daughter comb is a good sign for the future saffron cultivation in those sites.
DAUGHTER CORM PRODUCTION AND CONTINUATION OF SAFFRON LIFE CYCLE
With the onset of winter, vegetative phase begins which is an important stage of the saffron life cycle. Vegetative phase comprises leaf development and daughter corm production. Each corm bears green, narrow, and grass-like leaves. Bigger corms produce more leaves compared to the smaller ones. Photosynthetic activities occurring in the leaves serve as the source of necessary nutrients required for corm development. Production and multiplication of daughter corm marks the end of vegetative phase during which replacement corms or daughter corms are formed at the base of the shoot. Each mother corm produces 4-5 daughter corms. This stage is an economically important stage as daughter corm production can contribute to important corm attributes such as corm size, corm multiplication ratio and flowering. We observed multiplication of daughter corms in almost all the cultivation sites, which is a positive indication that the soil and climatic condition of the cultivation sites are conducive for saffron farming.
VALUE ADDITION OF SAFFRON BY-PRODUCTS:
Saffron production involves manual separation of stigmas from other floral parts, generating tons of by-products including saffron petals and anthers. The value addition of these products as petals in perfumery industries, tea, essential oil, etc., and anthers as natural colouring agent will generate additional income for the farmers.
SUMMARY
From the results obtained, it was observed that saffron corms survived in all cultivation sites. Yoksum in Sikkim showed the highest survival rate (100%) while Upper Shillong, Meghalaya showed the lowest survival rate (43.9%). Flowering was followed by a period of vegetative growth which was marked by development of leaves and formation of replacement corms. The saffron cultivation project sees the progress as a huge opportunity for the NE farmers in terms of prospecting livelihood generation through this spice that is in huge demand all over the globe.
NECTAR envisions bringing more area and farmers under saffron cultivation following comprehensive physico-chemical and microbial assessment of the soil to understand the suitability of soil for saffron cultivation and to bring a new NE brand of saffron in the market. NECTAR is also exploring possible opportunities to accommodate R & D aspects of saffron and byproduct(s) of the same through collaborative approach with related government agencies.
*The writer is Director General, NECTAR, SoI Campus, Barik Point, Shillong. He can be reached at dg.nectar@nectar.org.in
