Value Chain of Saffron in Kashmir Valley of Jammu & Kashmir State

While studying the value chain of saffron in Kashmir valley, the paper has observed that production as well as area under saffron cultivation have shrunk over the past few years causing a setback to this important activity. There exists two types of value chains through which saffron growers market their saffron crop. The chains were identified as: Produceràwholesalersà retailersàconsumers and Produceràcommissioning agentsà wholesalersàretailersàconsumers. The highest marketing margins (7–10%) were grabbed by the intermediaries (retailers and agents), followed by wholesalers, leaving saffron growers with a smaller margin. The chain actors who usually performed the task of grading, picking, sorting, etc. incurred the highest marketing cost in both the channels. The study has also revealed that the producer's share in consumer's rupee was more (66–67%) in channel-I than in channel-II (64%) in the sample area. The study has observed considerable scope to increase the producers’ share in the consumer's rupee by reducing the number of intermediaries. The government should intervene pro-actively to arrange saffron organized markets and forming the farmer's clubs and unions so that they may use them as profitable channels to sell their produce.