The Rajouri district came up on the saffron map of Jammu and Kashmir, when Vishal Chander Sharma successfully undertook saffron cultivation in his fields in this border district, surprising people with the purple-orange flower bloom in their neighbourhood. Influenced by the cultivation of saffron in the Kishtwar area of Jammu region, the Rajouri administration picked up the idea of Saffron cultivation in the district.

Apart from Kashmir valley’s Pampore belt, saffron is cultivated only in Kishtwar district outside the valley. “It is a dream cum true. I never thought saffron could be cultivated here (Rajouri). But we were successful in bringing in new areas of J&K on the saffron map of the UT,” said Vishal Chander Sharma. Sharma said he was earlier dependent on wheat and maize cultivation, but saffron allows him to earn more, an agriculture department official said.