: Mongra to Zarda, This Kashmir Family Has Been Cultivating Organic Saffron for Over 50 Years #IndiaNEWS #Agriculture There is a tiny box in my kitchen which holds goods that my mother guards with her

Mongra to Zarda, This Kashmir Family Has Been Cultivating Organic Saffron for Over 50 Years #IndiaNEWS #Agriculture
There is a tiny box in my kitchen which holds goods that my mother guards with her life. Even if I reach for the airtight container—which holds the delicate red threads of saffron that give out the sweetest fragrance—the scornful looks from her are enough to provide an unspoken warning: Handle With Care.
And rightly so.
Well-known as ‘red gold’, saffron is one of the most valuable herbs around the globe. Legend has it that even Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, is said to have bathed in saffron-infused mare milk before seeing a suitor. Used in a variety of dishes from sweets to savoury, it has a very distinctive aroma and taste. Its added health benefits make it fit for use in manufacturing cosmetics and medicines.
Today, this spice still holds the same importance and is widely grown in countries such as Iran, India, Greece and Afghanistan.
Closer home, Jammu and Kashmir is the only state producing saffron, wherein Pulwama district’s Pampore region is well-known as the ‘saffron bowl’. The flower is said to have been brought to India by Persian rulers around 500 BC.
According to an article by Scroll, there are 30,000 families associated with saffron cultivation. Earlier this year, Kashmiri saffron was also given a Geographical Indication tag (GI), marking its ingenuity.
Among the many saffron cultivators is Herb Heaven who has been growing organic saffron for 50 years and taking it across the world.
The saffron flower.
A family business
“Every family in the Pampore region is involved in saffron cultivation. My great grandfather, A. R Mir, started cultivating the crop over 50 years ago. Along with other family members and some labourers, he grew the crop on 25 acres of land and waited 14 months to harvest the red gold,??? says fourth-generation owner, Monis Mir.
After completing a Master’s degree from the UK, Monis went on to work in several multinational corporations across the world. Though, it was only in 2018 when he decided to settle in Kashmir and scale up his family business.
“Currently, we are exporting to eight countries across the world but my aim is to meet all quality standards in terms of packaging and delivery, eventually taking my great grandfather’s hard work to the global markets,??? says Monis.
Mehak Mir, Monis’ sister also joined the family business in 2019 after completing her Master’s in the UK. She says that she still remembers watching her grandfather, Abdul Rashid Mir go to work in the field every day. Earlier the family was cultivating the spice and selling it locally, but it was Abdul Rashid who broadened its reach to the Indian market.
“It was my grandfather who took the spice to markets across the country.