Which of the following solis is suitable for growing saffron ........

Explanation:

Recently, concerns have been raised that Kashmir’s highly fertile alluvial soil deposits called ‘karewas’ are being destroyed.

The Kashmir valley is an oval-shaped basin, 140 km long and 40 km wide, trending in the NNW–SSE direction. It is an intermountain valley fill, comprising of unconsolidated gravel and mud.

A succession of plateaus is present above the Plains of Jhelum and its tributaries. These plateau-like terraces are called ‘Karewas’ or ‘Vudr’ in the local language. These plateaus are 13,000-18,000 metre-thick deposits of alluvial soil and sediments like sandstone and mudstone.

This makes them ideal for cultivation of saffron, almonds, apples and several other cash crops.

Karewas were formed during the Pleistocene Period (1 million years ago), when the entire Valley of Kashmir was under water. Due to the rise of Pirpanjal, the drainage was impounded and a lake of about 5000 sq. km area was developed and thus a basin was formed. Subsequently, the lake was drained through Bramulla gorge. The deposits left in the process are known as karewas. The thickness of karewas is about 1400 m.

The Karewa deposits in the Kashmir valley have been conventionally divided into two stages, lower and upper, representing argillaceous and arenaceous facies respectively. The upper Karewas are less fossiliferous than the lower Karewas. The entire belt touching the foothills of the Pirpanjal represents the lower Karewas, which has been exposed to the rivers starting from the south such as Veshav, Rembiara, Romushu, Dodhganga, Shaliganga, Boknag nar and Ningli. Lower Karewa sections at Aharbal, Anantnag, Arigam, Baramulla have been exposed by these rivers.