The erratic weather patterns have led many farmers to convert their saffron fields into apple orchards or to grow mustard crops in Kashmir.
About Saffron Crop:
It is one of the costliest herbal spice across the globe and popularly known as Red Gold or the Golden Condiment.
The commercial part of Saffron is Stigma, which is the female part of flower also termed as Saffron filament or Saffron thread or Saffron stigmata.
The seeds of Saffron are called corms or bulbs, and Saffron plant regenerates from the vegetative multiplication of its underground corms.
It contains crocin, picrocrocin and saffranal which are very important constituents for both medicinal and aesthetic purposes.
Distribution: The saffron plant is native to Greece and Asia Minor, but it is now cultivated in many parts of Europe (especially Italy, France, and Spain), China, and India.
In India around 90% of saffron production comes from Kashmir, where it has been grown for centuries.
Required Climatic conditions
It grows at an elevation of 1,500-2,000 m above mean sea level.
Saffron cultivation requires explicit climatic conditions with temperatures ranging from not more than 35oC or 40oC in the summer to about -15oC or -20oC in the winter.
It can be grown in dry, moderate and continental climate types.
Soil: It thrives on loamy, sandy, and calcareous soils.
Saffron grows best on acidic soil. It thrives well when the soil pH is 5.5 to 8.5
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