Tucked in a valley beneath the snow-capped Himalayas of the Indian Kashmir region is the town of Pampore, famed for its farms ...

Come October, the crocus plants begin to bloom, covering the fields with bright purple flowers from which strands of fragrant red saffron are picked by hand, to be used in foods such as paella ...

Nestled in a picturesque valley beneath the snow-capped Himalayas lies Pampore, a town in the Kashmir region, celebrated as ...

Derived from the crocus plant, saffron fetches around $1,500 (£1,200) per kilo. In October and November fields around the town turn purple as the crocus plants bloom. Autumn also sees the ...

Pampore, a town in Indian Kashmir, is known for producing saffron, the world's most expensive spice. Traditional farming faces threats from urbanization and climate change, resulting in decreased ...

An curved arrow pointing right. Harvesting saffron requires a lot of physical labor to get the flowers from the field to final packaging. The harvesting process plus its distinct flavor ...

Bulb-like corms, at top, produce saffron crocuses. Each purple flower contains three red stigmas, which are dried and cured to make saffron.Credit...Gabriella Angotti-Jones for The New York Times ...

However, these challenges have intensified with the recent presence of numerous porcupines in saffron fields, which now span hundreds of acres. Covered in quills, the porcupine emerges from its ...

But all is not well in Kashmir's purple saffron fields these days, despite a reputation for quality that the north Indian region earned with a prestigious Geographical Indication (GI) tag several ...