Srinagar: Kashmir's world-renowned saffron industry is facing an existential crisis, with growers reporting a devastating 90 percent decline in this year's production - a collapse that has plunged thousands of farming families into deep economic distress and threatens to wipe out a centuries-old cultural heritage.

According to the Media, farmers in Pampore - historically known as the 'Saffron Bowl of Kashmir' - revealed that this season's output has dropped to merely 10 to 15 percent of normal levels. Growers warn that if the current trend continues, the iconic crop could completely disappear from the territory by 2030 unless immediate government intervention is taken.

'The corms haven't sprouted properly at all this year,' said Abdul Majeed Wani, President of the Saffron Growers Association. 'Production is hardly 15 percent. It isn't even half of last year's crop, which itself was only about 30 percent of the normal harvest. Every year it's decreasing, and the government doesn't seem serious about safeguarding this sector.'

Experts attribute the decline to erratic rainfall, climate change, unregulated urbanisation, and the failure to maintain the region's traditional irrigation system, known as Karewas. Farmers accuse the occupation authorities of apathy and neglect, saying that the much-hyped National Saffron Mission has failed to revive the crop.