The flagrant gender gap in saffron farming

In land ownership, a gender gap is visible thereby mechanism of saffron farming getting more and more patriarchal. Empirical research studies highlighting varied  data especially on land ownership and confirming male dominance as more than two-thirds of the farmland is managed by men, leaving no or very less scope for women as decision-makers and full scope for them to be homemakers only.

National Saffron Mission (NSM) 2010 that was supposed to be purple revolution or saffron revolution failed to do wonders for saffron industry. It was launched to revitalize saffron cultivation through technological renovations, upgraded irrigation, and financial backing and was a wonderful stride in the right way. Nonetheless, it benefited big saffron firms (male-dominated) and has fundamentally side-stepped women.

Regardless of a big push or critical minimum investment of nearly ₹400 crore towards this mission of improving prospects of saffron industry, women remain as mute spectators as they were unable to get extension education, agriculture trainings, access up-to-date technology, and credit facilities. The flagrant gender gap in saffron farming in Kashmir is beyond what is seen and observed because it has deep socio-cultural roots. The marginalization of women from the development chronicles of saffron agronomy is not purely a lapse but it is an extension of cultural glitches and structural dysfunctioning that have traditionally banished them from the mainstream.

History is witness to the fact that saffron growers have mostly informal credit sources especially through relatives and friends who are by and large men. This gender gap is not only a replication of structural or inherent gender disparity but also intensifies the economic susceptibility of womenfolk, who are reliant upon their male kinsfolks for economic security.

The economic marginalization of women is multifaceted by stark employment or pay inequities. In agriculture and its allied areas we find women on an average getting 35-40 less for doing same tasks as compared to their male counterparts and saffron farming is no exception. In saffron farming, this wage gap gets aggravated at later stages including post-harvesting and marketing. It is indicative of extensive social beliefs that endure to encourage unpaid work or undervalue women’s work, downgrading it to the household walls rather than identifying it as a crucial economic support.

Saffron is a labour-intensive cash crop where much of the labour women perform, including arranging and drying saffron strands, happens within the four walls of their homes. These tasks carry no economic sense for them for the reason that it goes mainly unpaid. In spite of these deep-rooted obstructions, women in saffron farming are beginning to create niche for their empowerment and economic self-sufficiency through self-help groups, cooperative movements, and entrepreneurial undertakings.

The Pampore Saffron Growers’ Cooperatives Society limited was formed in 1958.  It was dysfunctional for the couple of decades but in the recent past it was revived and now it is working hard to solve the problems of saffron industry in J&K in general and highlight role of women in saffron faming in particular. It is high time to form as many associations of cultivators as possible without any gender bias primarily for the purpose of helping the members to market their produce more profitably than possible through the private trade. It will allow the growers to market their produce at better prices, followed by the target of securing better marketing services and eventually contributing to improvements in the standard of living of the members.

Binish Qadri, Former Assistant Professor, Cluster University, Kashmir, India.