Sustainable saffron cultivation in Poonch under lab to land initiatives of University of Jammu: a Success Story

The University of Jammu has taken a pioneering initiative aimed at extending saffron cultivation to non-traditional areas of Jammu and Kashmir, at present in Poonch. In this connection, an interactive session was held among the farmers, the University team, and Vice Chancellor Prof. Umesh Rai. During the interaction, the Vice Chancellor echoed the vision of Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor JKUT and Chancellor, University of Jammu  Sh. Manoj Sinha about the importance of translating scientific innovations from lab to land. The programme has gained momentum with the support and encouragement of Prof. Umesh Rai. He reiterated the University's commitment to serving society and assured continued support to farmers, aligning with their aspirations during the interaction. The project was initially conceptualized by Prof Jyoti Vakhlu in 2018 and was driven by Tahir Ali, a research scholar in his Ph.D. research work. The current project has been sanctioned under the transdisciplinary scheme of the University of Jammu, research fund. The collaborative effort involves a multidisciplinary team including Dr. Shallu Sehgal from the Department of Economics, Dr. Aubid Hussain Parrey from the Business School, and Dr. Sunil Bhougal from the Department of Statistics.

To extend the trials in Poonch, in the current project, the team received invaluable support from Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director CSIR IIIM, and Dr. Asha Chaubey, Senior Principal Scientist and Head of Fermentation and Microbial Biotechnology Division. Dr. Ravi Singh Manhas, Project Scientist, played a crucial role in facilitating the scaling-up process. The collaborative work with IIIM, Jammu in scaling up the biofertilizer production helped achieve one of the key objectives of the project.

The project's impact at the grassroots level has been remarkable. As part of its commitment to engage with the wider community, the University of Jammu organized an event where Prof. Monika Chadha from the Department of English provided a platform through their radio station 91.2 FM. Two progressive farmers from Poonch, Mr. Aijaz Ahmed and Mr. Aziz ul Haq, shared their firsthand experiences with the project, highlighting its positive effects on their economic growth. They expressed their earnest desire to expand saffron cultivation to a greater expanse of land during the interaction. External evaluation of the project was conducted by Mr. Ravinder Thaploo, Former Joint Director Agriculture, who provided valuable insights. The team from the School of Biotechnology, including Prof. Jyoti Vakhlu, Dr. Sheetal Ambardar, Assistant professor, Dr. Nancy Bhagat, Research Associate along with PhD scholars Tahir Ali, Ayushi Verma, and Nitika Sharma, presented detailed insights into the project's methodology and outcomes.