SKUAST-K expert explains dos and don’ts for pre-post saffron harvesting

As farmers are busy in saffron harvest, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) recommended few guidelines for farmers and advised precautionary measures like avoiding harvest during moist conditions to preserve ingredients and post-harvest measures for the quality produce.
In Kashmir saffron harvest begins in the first week of October and lasts till November. This spice is known by various names in India, including zafran in Urdu, kesar in Hindi, kong posh in Kashmiri, and kungumapoo in Tamil.
The complex process of increasing saffron is what makes the spice so expensive. The locals begin the process by picking tiny flowers and gathering them in wicker baskets.
Dr Bashir Ahmad Allie, who heads SKUAST-K’s Advance Research Station for Saffron and Seed Spices at Dusso Pampore recommends that saffron flowers should be plucked unopened to ensure that moisture or tiny drops of water does not enter the flower.
“Farmers should pick one day old flowers from beds and avoid harvest during moist conditions for preserving three important ingredients that are Crocin, Picrocrocin and Saffarnal. All three important elements in saffron are very unique and volatile in nature from other saffron of the world,” he said.
“If we keep it exposed for longer, owing to their volatility, they diffuse into the air, consequently decreasing the quality of saffron,” he said.
Allie said once the flower is plucked it should not be kept at the farm for a long time and take it home immediately. The expert said the stigma part (deep red in colour) should be separated within 12 hours of picking and plucking.
“If the stigma is put on the flower for a long time at home, it will affect the quality of the produce. If they don’t separate the stigma there are chances that saffron flowers would get damaged which will compromise the quality,” he said.
The expert said once the saffron flowers are plucked, farmers should not make heaps at home which makes flowers hot as there are chances of damage.
“Once farmers take the saffron flower from the farm, they should put on a large cloth and separate the stigma as soon as possible,” he said.
Once the stigma separation is done, Allie said now the farmers should immediately go for drying of saffron produce as early as possible to retain the quality of the spice.
“Traditional methods make use of sun and dry the stigma for 50-55 hours which causes a considerable loss in quality,” he said. However, the expert recommended farmers to dry the saffron in vacuum dryers which is done very quickly.
“They should take their produce to Indian International Kashmir Saffron Trade Centre (IIKSTC) at Dusso Pampore for stigma separation and drying. There is a facility available for vacuum drying of saffron produce. The farmers should take the maximum benefit of the facility to preserve quality,” he said.
Allie said once the saffron is dried at an appropriate time these absorb the important elements. He said that Kashmiri saffron is unique just because it absorbs the vital Crocin, Picrocrocin and Saffarnal ingredients, which makes it unique from saffron of other parts of the world.
He also said this year farmers are harvesting a good produce of the expensive crop.
He said that erratic weather patterns, untimely precipitation can also cause damage to saffron by inducing corm rot.
“When there is enough moisture, along with temperature and humidity, the chances of corm rot increases and that is why we should ensure the drainage of the excess water and farmers should always keep their fields moist and not muddy,” he added.