The Saffron heritage site “Pampore” is situated on the banks of river Vatista, which flows down to the North-Southwar bank. Given its art, culture, beauty and adaptive agricultural technology inherited and adopted throughout centuries as a global heritage from the Zagros mountains, the Kashmir valley saffron site is of outstanding landscape beauty. The locals share and showcase their identity and the traditional knowledge embodied in the long standing, laborious and largest family farmers organic saffron cultivation system in the world. Their variety of saffron is well known and recognized for its uniqueness in colour, fragrance and taste (lazazat).

One of the legacies of Saffron farming practice is that this ancient farming system continues to inspire family farmers and local communities providing with livelihood security over 17,000 farm families. Kashmiri village women contribute through traditional tilling to flower picking with over 3,200 hectares dedicated to the legendary saffron crop cultivation in Pampore. However, it has been facing serious challenges of sustainability and livelihood security resulting in the urgent need to adopt appropriate technologies, inter-alia, and address water vagaries, productivity loss and market volatilities.