As production of Kashmiri saffron declines, farmers pitch for GI tag

On a cold February morning in this south Kashmir town, saffron farmer Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, 38, was setting out on a 30-km drive to the capital city of Srinagar. He, and two other farmers riding with him, were meeting officials of the agriculture department to press for a Geographic Indication (GI) tag for Kashmiri saffron.

Hit by climate change, cheaper Iranian imports, poor irrigation and outdated farming and post-harvest practices, the production of Kashmiri saffron has declined by 65% over 22 years to 2018--from 16 metric tonnes to 5.6 metric tonnes, as