In fact, emphasises the director, considering our advantageous position in saffron cultivation, Indian scientists should popularise it so much that saffron drinks become as ubiquitous as tea or coffee.

Urging the delegates participating in the first National Symposium on Saffron to find ways to boost the consumption of the commodity, he said that this would have direct economic spin-offs for the country. The research and marketing effort has to be such that it comes to be recognised as a stimulant like tea and coffee, the director said. Drawing from the example of coffee, Prakash said that when it was introduced in thecountry in the nineteenth century, it was neither cheap nor popular. ``A Coffee Board was set up by the Britishers, one of whose aims was to give fillip to coffee consumption, and the result is there for all to see'', he said, adding that though coffee's prices have not fallen dramatically, it is an all-prevailing habit today.

Contesting the apprehension that saffron was very expensive, he said that since it was required in small quantities, it was affordable. He said that its wider cultivation and use would further bring down the prices. Maintaining that there was a lot of scope for improving saffron yield, he said that even with the present standards the country remains a top producer of saffron in the world. He also urged the delegates to go for patents even on the tiniest innovation. This, he emphasised, was important for tomorrow's integrated technologies and in producing value-added products from saffron. In his keynote address, Prof A K Koul, Director, Department of Bio-technology, Jammu University,said that against the yield of between four to eight kg per hectare in the state, the saffron yield was about 16 kg per hectare in Spain. Referring to the huge difference in incomes, he said that this varied from Rs 1,800 to Rs 1.20 lakh per hectare. Kaul said that one of the ways to bridge this gap was to adapt the Spanish clone to the climatic conditions of the Valley. Reminding the audience of the Green Revolution which was spawned by the adaptation of the Mexican wheat varieties to the Indian conditions, he said that a similar revolution could also be brought about in saffron. The other measures that could help raise the crop levels significantly included hybridisation and tissue culture. Since the crop was labour-intensive, India had a distinct advantage in the field, the professor said.

Touching on the scientific aspects of the crop, Koul stressed on developing disease-free varieties of saffron. He said that saffron was rooted in the ethos of the people of Kashmir and was given to pregnant mothers sothat children born are healthy. It is first believed to have been used by Vaghbat around 500 BC and finds a mention in Ain-e-Akbari, he said adding that Arabs took it from Kashmir to Spain and then it spread to England, Russia and Algeria. Being grown in 5,000 hectares in the Kashmir Valley and 1,600 hectares in Kishtwar, saffron finds a place in the literature and poetry of the state. The plant also finds use in the India's traditional systems of medicine.