Farmers worried as porcupine’s damage Saffron corms in Pampore
Pulwama: The farmers in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district are a worried lot as porcupines, according to farmers are damaging their saffron corms.
Locals from Pampore, Konibal, Dusoo, Lethpora and its adjacent areas said that porcupines have been giving them sleepless nights as everyday they find damaged corms dug out by porcupines from saffron beds.
Abdul Rashid Shah, a saffron grower from Konibal said that porcupines have caused severe damage to saffron corms due to which production will get it affected.
When corm will be damaged, there will no production of saffron thereby affecting the livelihood of saffron growers, he said.
Ishrat Ahmad, another grower said that they have been using lights and horns to keep porcupines at bay but they can’t do it for the entire night.
He said that saffron production is already witnessing a decline due to different reasons and porcupines are adding salt to our wounds.
“If steps won’t be taken in this regard at an earliest, in coming years there will be no saffron corm left in the saffron fields,” he added.
Locals said that for orchardists they have other option like covering of tree trunks available with them but we don’t have such options available for saffron corms.
They said that the government must at least consult the technical experts who can guide growers how to get rid of damages caused by porcupines.
The rodent, according to the cultivators, becomes more active between December and March, devouring large quantities of the planted corms.
They added that in the last few years a repellent spray was given by SKAUST but the method proved as only a short-term relief and thereafter the problem is still going on.
The locals said that they have brought the issue into the notice of concerned authorities but no step has been taken in this regard.
They requested concerned authorities to look into the matter at an earliest so that porcupines won’t damage more corms.
