Amid declining production, Kashmiri farmers seek geographical indication tag for local saffron

On a cold February morning in this south Kashmir town, saffron farmer Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, 38, was setting out on a 30-km drive to the capital city of Srinagar. Bhat and two other farmers were meeting officials of the Agriculture Department to press for a Geographical Indication, or GI, tag for Kashmiri saffron.