Red gold feat: Inspired by Kashmir, man grows saffron in his Indore house

Indore, Nov 10: A farmer in Indore in Madhya Pradesh has pulled off a remarkable agricultural feat by growing saffron, among the costliest spices in the world and traditionally associated with picturesque Kashmir Valley, in his room.Anil Jaiswal, who grew saffron in the second-floor room of his house through the ‘aeroponics’ method, or one in which soil is not used, told PTI he planned to sell it at Rs 5 lakh per kilogram in the domestic market, while prices could up to Rs 8.50 lakh per kg internationally.I had gone to Kashmir with my family a few years ago and felt inspired after seeing saffron fields in Pampore. I then came back, created a controlled environment of temperature, humidity, light and carbon dioxide and deployed advanced aeroponics technology equipment to grow saffron in a room,” he said.The idea was to replicate the climate of Kashmir, said Jaiswal, whose second-floor room is now the cynosure of all eyes because of the beautiful purple saffron flowers. These plants have been kept in plastic trays in vertical racks.”It cost me Rs 6.50 lakh to create the infrastructure for saffron cultivation in a 320 square feet room. I ordered one tonne of saffron bulbs from Pampore in Kashmir. I expect to get 1.5-2 kilograms of saffron from its flowers this season. The saffron bulbs were kept in the first week of September and flowers started blooming by October-end,” he informed.The saffron grown in his room is completely organic, he said, adding his family was lending a helping hand.Informing that Gayatri Mantra and soothing music is being played in the room, which also witnesses the chirping of birds, Jaiswal’s wife Kalpana said the philosophy behind the effort was that trees and plants too have life.