PAMPORE, Kashmir administered by India At 4 in the morning, before the first call to prayer echoed through the Saffron Fields of Pamore in the Pulwama District of India’s wealthy Kashmir, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, 52, leaves with a flashlight.
The sharp air carries the aroma of the ground, but its heart sinks: its precious saffron mats, nourished for months, are devoured, devoured overnight.
“It’s like a war,” says Bashir, his voice full of exasperation. “We fight against climate change, we fight against low market prices.”
“But who would have thought we would have to fight against porcupines?”
During generations, farmers like Bashir have cultivated saffron in Pamore, the heart of the India saffron industry and the third largest in the world after Iran and Afghanistan.
The land here is considered sacred by the locals, producing part of the best saffron in the world with an unmatched crocina content of 8.72 percent. Crocin Determine the color and antioxidant value of saffron: the higher the value, the better the quality will be. Kashmir saffron has a deep crimson tone and a strong aroma.
These farmers have faced a variety of challenges and have survived them, from a mortal conflict of more than three decades between the armed separatists and the Indian security forces, to the smuggling and adulteration of saffron as it is directed. To global markets.
However, in recent years, the most expectant spice of the world faces a new and unexpected threat in Kashmir: the porcupine with an Indian crest.
A growing threat in the dark
Once confined to the forests of the region, the porcupines, a species protected in Jammu and Kashmir, have ventured in saffron farms, driven by deforestation, the loss of habitat and climate change. Unlike other rodents, these nocturnal creatures fall deeply on Earth, looking for foods of food for food.
The production of Kashmir Saffron was already fighting. Malmed by erratic rain, inappropriate irrigation and urban invasion in cultivation lands, it had collapsed from 15.97 metric tons in 1997-98 to only 3.48 metric tons in 2021-22.
But in the last five or seven years, farmers say that the devastating damage caused by porcupines has aggravated the crisis. They report loose up to 30 percent of their crops annually to pork.
By 2024, the federal government data showed that the back of Kashmir Saffron had fallen to 2.6 metric tons, putting at risk a $ 45 million industry that maintains 32,000 throughout the region.
Ahmad estimates that he has lost at least 300,000 Indian rupees [$3,500] Saffron value in the last two years due to porcupines. “At first, we thought they were street animals. But when we started finding pork feathers around the fields, we knew the problem was bigger.”
Failed solutions
The region’s forest department, collecting the growing infestation, tried an organic repellent spray last year. Farmers expected them to keep porcupines at bay.
“It worked for a while, but they return,” says Abdul Rashid, 45, another farmer in the area. “They deepen even more now, as if they had adapted.”
Some farmers have resorted to traditional methods: place thorny bushes around their fields, set lazy or simply patrol at night. None or has worked. The porcupines are varying.
“We need real action, not only words,” says Rashid, whose land borders Ahmad. “If this continues, Kashmir saffron will disappear.”
The invasion of pork is not just a local problem. Kashmir saffron is a world product, and any interruption in the supply can send waves through the international market, industry experts say.
The saffron from Iran, which constitutes approximately 85 percent of the spice produced worldwide, has a lower crocin content (6.82 percent) than its asshling cousin.
As the Kashmir yield decreases, merchants fear that Iranian domain over the market will extend even more than it already does.
“If only 5 percent of the harvest is lost in porcupines, it is a loss of rupee of 29 million ($ 350,000) annually,” says Bilal Ahmed, a saffron merchant in Srinagar. “Prices will increase and Kashmir saffron could become a luxury that few can pay.”
The fate of the ‘red gold’ of Kashmir
When the dawn is broken on Pampore, Bashir Ahmad collects the scattered feathers left by porcupines. It sighs, knowing that tonight, the cycle will be repeated.
For now, the battle continues. But farmers like Ahmad fear that they are losing and that the world soon has to face a future without the precious “red gold” of Kashmir: an ounce of saffron in the global market costs more than an ounce of gold.
“If they keep coming, we will have nothing finally,” he says, shaking his head. “This land has given us saffron for centuries. If we lose it, we lose a part of Kashmir.”
The invasion of pork in the Saffron Fields of Pamore is not an accident. Mir Muskan A Nisa, a research scholar of the Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, says that the destruction of the habitat and the reduction of the forest cover sources of food foods AV by the native ecosmaker of the night rilens. Therefore, Saffron Corms provide an easily accessible and nutritious alternative.
“Their excavation and food habits not only reduce saffron yields, but also damage soil health, affecting future cultivation,” she says.
He explains that farmers must adopt protection measures such as deep -eyed wire fences, which extends 1.5 meters (5 feet) underground to make it difficult for pork and other rodents to be under them. Natural repellent and sensors activated by movement that show a light or make a sound when animals approach, scaring them, are other options, she says.
Involving techniques to safely trap porospines and relocate them “is crucial to safeguard both crops and porcupín population,” he adds.
Climate change has played an important role in the challenge of puppy, experts say. Erratic climatic patterns have altered vegetation cycles, which affects the availability of traditional porcupines food sources. The warmer winters, which were once rare in Kashmir, now allow porcupines to remain active for longer periods, damaging saffron farms more than before.
In addition, wild predators such as leopards and wild dogs helped maintain ecological balance maintaining the number of porcupine under control. However, with predators populations due to habitat destruction and human activity, porcospina numbers seem to have increased, says wildlife experts. They cite a strong increase in visits and crop damage, although there is no official census or pork.
What can be done?
Wild and agricultural life experts are now exploring possible solutions to curb the threat of porcupine.
“A suggestion is the controlled reinduration of natural predators, such as wild dogs, to restore ecological balance. However, this remains controversial, since it could represent risks to livestock and human settlements,” says Saheer Ahmad, a savage.
A more immediate solution that some farmers have tried is to fence and catch. While electric fencing has proven to be effective in deterring porcupines, it is prohibitively expensive for many small -scale farmers. The capture and relocation of pork, if systematically performed, could offer a viable alternative.
Scientists are also developing biodegradable repellent that mimic the aromas of predators to scare away porcupines. Unlike the organic repellent proven last year, which yielded mixed results, these new formulations aim to provide a more durable duck to damage the environment.
The protection of saffron crops is partially challenging, says Insar Suhail, regional chief of conservation of wildlife and forest protection for North Kashmir.
“For fruit trees, such as almonds and apple, painting white trunks or covering them with navy bags can offer protection,” Al Jazeera tells. White paint reflects sunlight, avoiding pests, while Gunny bags act as physical barriers.
But those tactics do not work for saffron, cultivated of bulbs in open fields, he says.
Planting specific species such as Wormwood or Wild Yam “around field perimeters can serve as a deterrent element,” he says. These plants emit aromas that avoid pork.
“In addition, spraying pepper solutions around the bulbs could help, he showed that he does not damage the crop.”
However, saffron farmers say they need government help to introduce changes.
Compensation for crop losses, fencing subsidies and long -term wildlife management policies could mitigate the crisis, they say.
And time is running out.
“We used to worry about the weather or the market, but now we are losing our harvest before the harvest reaches,” says Ghulam Nabi, a 39 -year -old player whose farm is next to Ahmads. “If this continues, our livelihood will be over.”
