Srinagar: A thorny insect is hovering over the “red gold” of Kashmir. Farmers in Pampore now live on pins and needles.In the saffron highlands of Pampore – about 15 km south-east of Srinagar in Pulwama district – an unusual hunter is feasting on one of the region’s most prized crops. The burrowing Indian crested porcupine, a nocturnal rodent, has begun to eat the saffron thorns beneath the soil, hollowing out the crop before it has even bloomed.The corm is the underground, bulb-like stem of the Crocus sativus plant that produces autumn-blooming purple flowers and the precious red stigma used for the spice saffron – kong in Kashmiri, kesar in Hindi, zafran in Persian.National Conference’s Pampore MLA Hasaniyan Masoodi said the pace of destruction could wipe out the saffron of Kashmir in the coming years. “Porcupines are eating the saffron roots. Production has dropped from around 22,000 kg a decade and a half ago to around 1,000 kg now,” he said.The crisis came to the fore in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Saturday, where Forest Minister Javed Ahmed Rana outlined measures after Masoodi raised concerns. He said wildlife and forest department teams are assessing the damage and mapping sensitive areas in the Kesar plateau of Pampore.Masoodi hit back saying the ground reality was very serious. “There has been no wildlife survey. I don’t know how these porcupines came to Kashmir, but now they are here and destroying crops,” he said.For many farmers, the losses are enormous. Some report up to 80% damage to fields.Production has almost disappeared in Khrew, a saffron-growing area within Pampore, about 20 km south-east of Srinagar. “Khrew once contributed about 4,000 kg of the total yield of 22,000 kg, but the fields there are now largely unproductive,” said Masoodi, who lives in the area.Wildlife experts and officials attribute the increase to a mix of ecological changes. Deforestation has reduced natural habitats, causing porcupines to move into cultivated lands. The decline in the numbers of predators – particularly leopards – has removed a significant check on their populations. Warm winters have increased foraging windows, allowing rodents to be active for longer periods of time year-round.Yet control options are limited. As a protected species under wildlife law, porcupines cannot be killed, turning crop damage into a raging human-animal conflict.Rana’s advice to farmers reads like a defensive manual: clear caves and bushes that harbor rodents, erect mesh barriers buried 1.5 meters deep to prevent burrowing, paint tree trunks white or wrap them in gunny bags to prevent movement at night, spray pepper-based biological repellents, place naphthalene near dens.Priority should be given to the most affected plots, he said.Masoodi said, farmers cannot bear this burden alone. “A roadmap has been outlined, but who will implement it?” he asked. “People lack resources. Without state action in the fields, farming will be abandoned.”This prospect weighs heavily on the Karewa suburbs of Pampore near Jhelum, long known as the “saffron heart” of the valley, where the spice has shaped livelihoods and identity for centuries. If the quills continue to winnow underground, flowers may stop growing above it.