Government of India’s (GOI) financial support for saffron growers of Jammu and Kashmir has motivated two young Kashmiri entrepreneurs to initiate a startup in the branded saffron space.
Hilal Ahmad Malik and Junaid Gulzar Bafanda from Srinagar has aggregated 30 acres of land at Pampore and have established New Generation Agro to produce the world’s most expensive spice – saffron.
“Pampore’s saffron is known to be of the best quality in the world. We have unveiled today our saffron brand Abu Saffron, who’s USP is its quality. It is the purest form of saffron grown organically. The purity and authenticity of the saffron is proven by the produce’s naturally dark red colour with aroma. It is cultivated and hand-picked at a high altitude of 1600 m to 1800 m above sea level. We have a target to produce & market 50 kgs of saffron every year,” said Hilal Ahmed Malik.
“While the world’s total production of saffron is 325 tones, 90% of this is contributed by Iran, India comes at a dismal 4th place in the cultivation of saffron with gross production of more than 3 tones a year. The government’s initiative to infuse funds into this sector can help production increase manifold,” said Junaid Gulzar Bafanda.
GOI this year supported saffron growers financially to the tune of Rs. 411 crore for protection preservation and more production of saffron in J&K.
