Saffron Bowl Project

What is the news?

North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) under Saffron Bowl project has identified few locations in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya for saffron cultivation.

Saffron Cultivation in North East

Saffron production has long been restricted to a limited geographical area in the Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

Pampore region, commonly known as Saffron bowl of Kashmir, is the main contributor to saffron production. Other districts producing saffron are Budgam, Srinagar, and Kishtwar districts.

In 2020, the Kashmir saffron got Geographical Indication (GI) tag status.

However, the saffron bowl which was so far confined to Kashmir is being expanded to the Northeast as the North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) has launched the Saffron Bowl Project to explore the feasibility of growing saffron in the region with the same quality.

NECTAR has identified few locations in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya for saffron cultivation.

– In Arunachal Pradesh, there is a good growth of organic saffron with flowers.

– In Meghalaya, sample plantations were grown at Cherrapunji, Mawsmai and Lalingtop sites.

What is North East Centre For Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR)?

NECTAR is an autonomous society set up under the Department of Science & Technology.

The Centre looks at harnessing and leveraging niche frontier technologies available with central scientific departments and institutions. 

In order to assist the northeastern region, NECTAR ensures applications of appropriate technologies for development in the areas of biodiversity concerns, watershed management, telemedicine, horticulture, etc.

Headquarters: Shillong, Meghalaya

Source: This post is based on the article “Saffron Bowl Project” published in PIB on 3rd Feb 2022.