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King Charles Hands Military Title to Son William in Rare Joint Appearance

Britain's King Charles III officially hands over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales in front of an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Center in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP)
Britain's King Charles III officially hands over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales in front of an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Center in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP)
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King Charles Hands Military Title to Son William in Rare Joint Appearance

Britain's King Charles III officially hands over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales in front of an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Center in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP)
Britain's King Charles III officially hands over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps to Prince William, The Prince of Wales in front of an Apache helicopter at the Army Aviation Center in Middle Wallop, England, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP)

Britain's King Charles handed over a senior military role to his son Prince William at a ceremony on Monday, marking a rare joint appearance for the pair as the king steps up his return to public duties after his cancer diagnosis.

Charles presented William with the title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, a position the 75-year-old monarch held for 32 years, in front of an Apache helicopter, and watched by service personnel at the Army Flying Museum in southern England.

"He's a very good pilot indeed," Charles said of his son, a former helicopter search and rescue pilot for Britain's Royal Air Force.

The visit was Charles' latest engagement since he returned to work at the end of April, almost three months after Buckingham Palace announced he was being treated for an unspecified type of cancer.

William, 41, had also taken a break from official duties for several weeks in March and April this year, choosing to spend time with and care for his wife after she revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.

He said on Friday she was "doing well".

At the handover ceremony, Charles said he was saying goodbye with "sadness", but the Army Air Corps would go from "strength to strength" under his son.

"Look after yourselves and I can't tell you how proud it has made me to have been involved with you all this time," Charles said.

The title transfer was announced last August after Charles' accession to the throne. William spent time with the Corps, viewing training, equipment and hearing from soldiers later on Monday.

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Kashmir’s Saffron Growers Experiment with Indoor Farming as Climate Pressures Mount

Kashmiri villagers collect stigma from saffron flowers in Pampore, 19 km (12 miles) south of Srinagar.(Reuters)
Kashmiri villagers collect stigma from saffron flowers in Pampore, 19 km (12 miles) south of Srinagar.(Reuters)
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Kashmir’s Saffron Growers Experiment with Indoor Farming as Climate Pressures Mount

Kashmiri villagers collect stigma from saffron flowers in Pampore, 19 km (12 miles) south of Srinagar.(Reuters)
Kashmiri villagers collect stigma from saffron flowers in Pampore, 19 km (12 miles) south of Srinagar.(Reuters)

Tucked in a valley beneath the snow-capped Himalayas of the Indian Kashmir region is the town of Pampore, famed for its farms that grow the world's most expensive spice - the red-hued saffron.

This is where most of saffron is farmed in India, the world's second-largest producer behind Iran of the spice, which costs up to 325,000 rupees ($3,800) a kg (2.2 pounds) because it is so labor-intensive to harvest.

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, and in fragrances and cloth dyes.

"I am proud to cultivate this crop," said Nisar Ahmad Malik, as he gathered flowers from his ancestral field.

But, while Malik has stuck to traditional farming, citing the "rich color, fragrance and aroma" of his produce through the years, some agrarian experts have been experimenting with indoor cultivation of the crop as global warming fears increase.

About 90% of India's saffron is produced in Kashmir, of which a majority is grown in Pampore, but the small town is under threat of rapid urbanization, according to the Indian Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).

Experts say rising temperatures and erratic rainfall pose a risk to saffron production, which has dropped from 8 metric tons in the financial year 2010-11 to 2.6 metric tons in 2023-24, the federal government told parliament in February, adding that efforts were being made to boost production.

One such program is a project to help grow the plant indoors in a controlled environment in tubes containing moisture and vital nutrients, which Dr. Bashir Ilahi at state-run Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences said has shown good results.

"Growing saffron in a controlled environment demonstrates temperature resistance and significantly reduces the risk of crop failure," said Ilahi, standing in his laboratory between stacks of crates containing tubes of the purple flower.

Ilahi and other local experts have been helping farmers with demonstrations on how to grow the crocus plant indoors.

"It is an amazing innovation," said Abdul Majeed, president of Kashmir's Saffron Growers Association, some of whose members, including Majeed, have been cultivating the crop indoors for a few years.

Manzoor Ahmad Mir, a saffron grower, urged more state support.

"The government should promote indoor saffron cultivation on a much larger scale as climate change is affecting the entire world, and Kashmir is no exception," Mir said.