Status and Prospects of Mechanization in Saffron ...



Status and Prospects of Mechanization in Saffron Cultivation in Kashmir

A. Alam

Sher-e-Kashmir

University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Kashmir

Shalimar Campus

Srinagar

India

Keywords: corm digging, cormplanting, harvesting, land preparation, packing, weeding

Abstract

Saffron is a very important cash crop of Kashmir and has been in cultivation for a long time on small farms. Average holding of saffron farmers is 0.56 ha. However, other than primary and secondary tillage in seedbed preparation, operations are carried out manually using indigenous tools mainly Ramba or Khurpi for weeding, Tungru–small and large for hoeing and Bel (spade) for movement of soil/opening drain. About 600-625 man-days/ha are used in saffron farming from seedbed to drying. Weeding is most laborious operation in saffron farming in Kashmir requiring 160 man-d/ha (2 weedings). Next labour intensive operations are hoeing (120), picking and separation (120), bed forming and sowing (80), and corm digging (80) which needs to be mechanized. For tillage animal-drawn plough as well as tractor mounted plough and disc harrows are used. In recent past rotovators have come in use for seedbed preparation especially where fine tilth is required. Power tillers have also become popular in Kashmir Valley and are suited to achieving well pulverized seedbed once soil is deep ploughed. In rice-wheat rotation tractor mounted raised bed planters have come in use which can be adopted for bed forming for saffron cultivation. Corms are sown in deep furrows at a spacing of 20 cm made using bullock-drawn plough. Onion/potato/tulip planter can be easily adopted for saffron corm planting. By suitably modifying metering of Raised Bed Planter saffron corm can be planted. It is proposed to adopt wheel hoes, power weeders and power tillers for weeding and hoeing saffron plots. Potato and groundnut diggers can be adopted for digging and collecting corms with some modifications. Besides size grader electronic corm grader can be developed for grading corms by weight. For drying solar dryers developed are working well, at the same time electric heated saffron dryer is under development.

INTRODUCTION

Saffron (Crocus sativus var kashmiriana) is a very important high value low volume condiment and a cash crop of Kashmir. Its cultivation started around 550 AD. As late as 1997-98 area under saffron in Jammu & Kashmir was about 5704 ha. Saffron being a rainfed crop suffered due to droughts like situation in the Valley, 1999-2003. As a result both area as well as productivity has reduced. It is predominantly cultivated in Pampore area of Pulwama district; some is grown in Kishtwar area of Doda district and some pockets in Budgam district. During drought period productivity reduced from about 3.0 kg/ha to 1.5 kg/ha in 2003. However, favorable rainfall during 2004-2005 situations improved and saffron production was 125 q with productivity increased to 2.5 kg/ha. Current area under saffron is 3885 ha. Average holding of saffron farmer in Pampore is 0.56 ha. Experiments on increasing saffron productivity by Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Kashmir through irrigation during reproductive phase @ 70 m3/ha every 7-10 days; application of nutrients, 20 t/ha of organic manure along with 30 : 20 : 15 NPK, use of corms of 10 g or larger yielded 3.5 kg/ha. Planting cycle in vogue is too long 7-10 years which if reduced to 4-5 years can reduce incidence of corm rot, one of the factors responsible for loss of productivity and net returns. Government of J&K proposes to launch a horizontal expansion of saffron cultivation in all the six districts of Kashmir Valley and the Kishtwar area of district Doda. Saffron is cultivated exclusively on Karewa (geological silt deposits) at an altitude ranging between 1600 to 1750m amsl.

Cost benefit analysis of saffron cultivation depending upon productivity ranges between 1:0.69–1:1.39. Cost input in cultivation of saffron is very high labor component accounts for 47 % and inputs 53 %. Labor in monetary terms on average comes to Rs 87,250/ha (1783.3 US$/ha). It is rather excessive (Tables 1, 2), demanding mechanization through appropriate tools, implements and machines which not only reduce excessive labor but remove drudgery so that educated new generation continues to practice saffron cultivation. Mechanization can also bring precision in metering and placement of inputs, help reduce unit cost of production and enhance productivity.

MECHANIZATION IN SAFFRON CULTIVATION

Global trends demand that appropriate mechanization in saffron cultivation should be taken in J&K in order to prevent decline in saffron cultivation. Besides Iran, India, Spain and Turkey it has been in cultivation in Italy, France, Switzerland, Israel, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, UAE, Japan, Afghanistan, Iraq and recently started in Tasmania (Australia). Lot of labor is required for its cultivation (Trease and Evans, 1983; Neghbi et al., 1989; Plessnere et al., 1989). Increase in labor wages since 1960s has led to reduction of saffron acreage in Turkey and Spain and almost its disappearance in Italy. Trends can be arrested only through selective appropriate mechanization. Highly sophisticated costly machines may not be affordable to the saffron growers, as majority of the saffron cultivation are small and marginal farmers. Some of the machines may have to be made available on custom hire basis.

Mechanization offers a great scope to reduce the cost of cultivation. Although saffron is quite a difficult crop to mechanize since the plant is small and delicate. However, some common tools can be successfully adopted for use in most cultural operations leaving possibly harvesting (picking) and separation. There are presently no machines capable of totally mechanizing this crop and research efforts so far have been to adopt existing machinery for different unit operations rather than designing specific machines. With increasing labor wages mechanization is a necessity for profitability and sustainability of this important cash crop. Agricultural mechanization has advanced in India considerably in field crops. Some of the equipment can be adopted for saffron cultivation with small modifications.

Land Preparation

First of all before planting saffron deep ploughing is done involving tilling the soil to a depth of approximately 30 cm using bullock drawn plough and planking. Every month Jan – Sept ploughing is done in the same furrow to achieve required depth as well as keep the field clean. This operation is not difficult to mechanize using tractors and matching ploughs and harrows. In case of marginal farm families such machinery can be used on custom service basis or acquiring them for own use and custom servicing taking loan from government or cooperative agencies. Power tiller with a ridger plough can also perform such an operation.

To avoid water stagnation for which saffron is sensitive , the fields is laid out into 2m wide 10-20 m long strips across the field slope with 30 cm wide and 15 cm deep drainage channels on both sides. Earlier beds used to be made 2 x 2 m size with drains all around but now long strips are preferred. After bed formation sowing is done by hand dropping saffron corms behind plough. Estimated cost on account of land preparation involving draught animals and human labor amounts to Rs.10, 250. The cost can be reduced by using bed planter. Semi-automatic vegetable transplanter also holds promise. In the trials conducted in Italy with a ridger alone, or in combination with potato planter it was possible to make ridges about 150mm high and 1m wide separated by furrows of about 300 mm (Galigami, 1987). However, the rate of this machine varies according to the conditions of use, fluctuating between 2 and 10 h/100 m2 (Amato et al., 1989).

Corm Planting

Corms are dug in the second fortnight of August as soon as contractible roots emerge and planting done in the first fortnight of September after grading the corms. Research studies in Kashmir have confirmed importance of corm size in improving saffron productivity. Therefore, sorting of saffron corms is imperative. Manual labor utilized in sorting of corms amounts to a heavy expenditure of 12500 Rs /ha. Saffron corms can be sown using planters with some modification to sow large size corms (> 2.0 cm). Sorted corms are planted in furrows at a spacing of 20x10 cm and at a depth of 15 cm. Furrows are then covered with soil leaving a intera-bed drain of about 7.5 cm deep. The most suitable machines for this operation are onion planter/potato planter/tulip planter. Major drawback in mechanical depositing of corms in the bed is lack of consideration to their polarity, corms planted deviant from their vertical axis or upside down have delay in sprouting and decline in productivity (Galigani, 1982). In Spain saffron corms are planted in a mesh cage (width 45 cm ) on raised beds 1.5 m wide with the help of tulip planter at a density of 6 lakh corms/ ha. This is meant to facilitate the subsequent extraction of the corms from the earth at the end of planting cycle. Although the cage system seems to provide the operator some ease, it has not met expectation due to tendency of cage to wrap and of the corms to slide about inside the cage, consequently causing variation in planting density.

Corm accounts for single most costly input in saffron cultivation. At a spacing of 20 x 10 cm about 5 lac/ha of corms are required. At 10 g/corm it amounts to 5 t/ha corm. In monetary terms it comes to 250000 Rs/ha at a market rate of Rs 50,000/t.

Weeding/Hoeing

Weeding & hoeing accounts for major labor cost component (35% of the total labor cost). Some 21 weed species stand already identified in saffron fields of Kashmir which needs proper control besides damage by rats, resulting in poor saffron corm multiplication & growth. Hoeing is done to aerate the saffron beds and destroy weeds. First hoeing is done in June with short handled hoe called Zooni. Second hoeing is done in September. Beds are properly leveled by borrowing soil from the drainage channels After the flowering is over weeding is practiced in January & April to promote daughter corm production .Wheel hoe specially designed for clay loam soils can be effectively used for light weeding & hoeing. For hoeing two wheel tractors can also be effectively used taking care not to till at depth greater than 20 or 30 mm because of tendency of new corms to grow increasingly close to the surface. For wide row crop weeding power weeders are available in India which can be adopted for hoeing saffron beds too, taking help of gauge wheel.

Harvesting and Drying

Mechanical harvesting is hindered by three factors:

i. Flower grows just a few centimeters above the soil surface

ii. Flowers usually appear with /or after leaf appearance.

iii. Quality is adversely affected if soil clods get picked up.

Hence mechanical harvesting of the flowers would damage the foliage & the drastically reduce the production of replacement corms. Saffron flowers are as such normally hand picked in the early morning hours. Work is prolonged and done in bent posture. Effort in this direction will definitely be economically viable as the input cost is very high. Some machines based on vacuum principle can be tried. Care has to be taken that the quality of the product does not get affected. About 90 man days are required to separate the pistil from saffron flowers produced from 1 ha of land. These labor days are required in the month of October-November when the farmers are busy. Normally saffron is collected in three pickings at an interval of 4 days starting from last fortnight of October. Efforts have been made to separate the styles from the stamens and petals by means of a wind tunnel consisting of a variable section pipe which exposes the cut flowers to an air draught created by various vortices. In a simplified version the petals are separated from the stamens by a fan and the separated manually or by means of a flat or cylindrical iron screen, but this operation also needs to be completed by hand (Skrubis, 1990). In Kashmir generally drying is carried under shade which generally takes 27-53 hours to dry the product to a safe moisture level of 8%. Slow drying results in quality deterioration of saffron. Solar heated air dryers designed and fabricated in Kashmir reduce the drying time to 3-4 hours and the product shows pigment concentration very close to that found in fresh saffron. Solar saffron dryer has a drying tray with a mesh wire bottom and a roof to protect from inclement weather, dirt and dust. A glass shielded solar collector with corrugated black coated GI sheet absorber creates air flow above ambient through natural convection. Fresh saffron (I kg) kept in drying tray is dried in about 4-6 hours to moisture content of 8-10 %. Its approximate cost is Rs 6500. Hot Air Dryers are specially designed for inclement weather and the farmer can use it indoor. It is a tray dryer. Heated air 45 + 5 °C with supplemental heating using electricity, LPG stove or soft coke is circulated by a blower. Modified Hot Air Dryer has four drying trays of 1 m2 size each and 100 cm chimney. It has thermally insulated body conserving energy. Approximate price of this dryer is Rs 15000.

Corm Digging

At the end of the planting cycle (7-10 years in certain case up to 15 years) the saffron corms are gathered from the field. On an average 80 man days are required to dig and gather saffron corms from 1 ha of land. Several machines with slight adjustment like groundnut digger & potato digger can be tried. A potato picking machine drawn by a two wheel drive tractor weighing 270 kg has been used successfully. The machine consists of a neoprene frame with a front three pointed plough share of semi cylindrical shape followed by a rod iron grid normally placed in the feed direction The grid is hinged at one end and made to oscillate by an eccentric moved by the power take off. Work depth is adjusted to 150-189 mm (Galigani, 1989; MAF, 1982; Amato et al., 1989).

Packaging

Saffron packaging is done manually in plastic container or plastic sachet/pouches in two grades Lacha (pistils) and Mongra (stigma). Attention is to be given to saffron packaging to make the product attractive. There are packers who are supplying adulterated or poor quality saffron as Kashmir saffron. Government is trying to set up a packaging unit in Pampore certifying quality under brand name “Kungposh”. Saffron is retailed in Kashmir in plastic and paper containers as well as plastic pouches. Shelf life of these packages is not studied in terms of retention of quality crocin, picroctocin and saffranal with respect to shelf life.

Conclusions

Labor involved in saffron cultivation is excessive especially in weeding and hoeing, seedbed preparation and sowing, corm digging and sorting, flower picking and separation of saffron. In terms of input cost, corm is most expensive input about 250000 Rs/ha and the cost of the labor used is also very high 87250 Rs/ha (Over 30 %). In absence of mechanization there is lot of drudgery. If labor intensive unit operations are not mechanized, coming generations may not practice saffron cultivation. With steady increase in labor wages profitability and sustainability will get into jeopardy. Farm equipment that has become popular in the region for field crops may be adopted for saffron cultivation with suitable modifications.

Literature Cited

Amato, A., Amelotti, G., Bianchi, A., Galigani, P. F., Montorfano, P. and Zanucchi, C. .1989. Zafferano, fonte di reddito alternativo per Ie zone svantaggiate. Agric. 196:101-128.

Galigani, P.F. 1982. Progetto Piante Officinali: Relazione dell’attivita svolta dall’unita operative dell’ Instituto di Maccanica Agraria e Meccanizione della acolta di Agraria dell’Universita di Firenze nel II anno di ricerca 1981-1982. Unpublished

Galigani, P.F.1987. La meccanizzazione delle colture di salvia, lavanda,zafferano e genziana, in Atti.Convegno sulla coltivazione delle piante officinali,Trento 9-10 ottobre 1986, ed. A. Bezzi, pp. 221-234, InstitutoSperimentale per I Assestamento Forestale e per l’Alpicoltura,Villazzano (Trento).

M.A.F.1982. Progetto piante officinali: stato della sperimentazione e risulati del secondo anno di attivita – Ministero dell’ Agricoltura e della Foreste-Instituto sperimentale per l ‘ Assestamento Fortestale e per l’ Alpicolturta di Trento.

Plessner, O., Neghbi, M., Ziv, M. and Basker, O. 1989. Effects of temperature on the flowering of the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus L.): Induction of hystheranthy. Isr. J. Bot. 38:1-7.

Skrubis, B. 1990. The cultivation in Greece of crocus sativus L. Proc International Conference on Saffron (Crocus sativus L.), pp.171-182. L’Aquila, Italy.

Trease, G.E.and Evans,W.C.1983. Pharmacognosy . Alden Press, Oxford.P.527.

Table 1. Calendar of field operations and the man days required for each operation

|Operation |Type |Month |

| | |J |

| | |i |

| |J

i |F

ii |M

iii |A

iv |M

v |J

vi |J

vii |A

viii |S

ix |O

x |N

xi |D

xii |Total | |Ploughing |Bullocks | | | |1750 |1750 |1750 |1750 |1750 |1750 | | | |10,500 | |Land preparation & manuring |Bullocks | | | | | | | | |1750 | | | |1750 | |Bed Formation |Manual | | | | | | | | |5000 | | | |5000 | | Corm Sorting |Manual | | | | | | | | |12500 | | | |12500 | |Sowing |Bullocks | | | | | | | | |1750 | | | |1750 | |Weeding |Manual |10000 | | |10000 | | | | | | | | |20000 | |Hoeing |Manual | | | | | |5000 | | |5000 | | | |10,000 | |Corm digging |Manual | | | | | | | |10000 | | | | |10,000 | |Picking |Manual | | | | | | | | | |2500 |1250 | |3750 | |Separation |Manual | | | | | | | | | |7500 |3750 | |11250 | |Drying |Manual | | | | | | | | | |250 |250 | |500 | |Packing |Manual | | | | | | | | | | |250 | |250 | |Total | |10000 | | |11750 | |5000 | |11750 |26000 |10250 |5500 | |87250 | |

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