Srinagar, Oct. 2 -- Kashmir grows saffron prized by the world's finest kitchens for its high crocin content, but the valley is apparently heading into another sour season.

Ladakh, an arid cold desert with no long history of saffron cultivation, has now launched a saffron mission of its own. The contrast raises a simple question: why does Kashmir treat a crop it has cultivated for centuries with such little care?

Ladakh's administration has put about 800 kilograms of Iranian corms, roughly 90,000 of them, into 4,000 square metres of restored land at Spituk Pharka. Other regions have also announced that they can grow the crop.

When places with no saffron tradition commit water, land and official attention to it, they are reading the mark...