Rapid Fire
Transforming Northeast India into a Saffron Hub
- 17 Mar 2025
- 2 min read
India has identified the Northeast as India’s next saffron cultivation hub, following Jammu & Kashmir’s Pampore. This initiative, part of Mission Saffron, was highlighted during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) permanent campus in Shillong.
- Mission Saffron: It is a centrally-funded project launched in 2010-11 to support saffron cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir. Since 2021, it has expanded to Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya under the "Saffron Bowl Project" by NECTAR.
- Saffron: Highly valuable spice derived from the stigmas of flower Crocus sativus, known as the saffron crocus.
- Saffron thrives at 2000m altitude, in loamy, sandy, or calcareous soils, with pH raining from 6-8, requiring a dry to moderate climate with summer temperatures below 40°C and winter temperatures as low as -20°C.
- Kashmir saffron got Geographical Indication (GI) tag status.
- NECTAR: An autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), established in 2014, it focuses on technology-driven solutions to enhance agriculture, infrastructure, and economic development in the Northeast.
| Read more: Saffron Bowl Project |
