The Lavender Festival

Blog Credit: Trupti Thakur

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The Lavender Festival

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on June 4 inaugurated the two-day “Lavender Festival” in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bhaderwah Valley and said the Union Territory has emerged as the lavender capital of India and a prominent agri-startup destination.

The festival has been organized by the CSIR-IIIM and is part of the institution’s ‘One Week One Lab Campaign’. It showcases the remarkable progress made in lavender cultivation and its impact on the local community.

Mr. Singh described Bhaderwah as the birthplace of India’s purple revolution, highlighting the region’s success in promoting lavender cultivation and nurturing agri-startups.

He said the Bhaderwah region offers ideal conditions for lavender cultivation in terms of land and climate.

Speaking about the impact of lavender cultivation, Mr. Singh said it has the potential for employment generation and research opportunities and opens up new avenues for development.

He also noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has acknowledged the efforts of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM) in supporting farmers in Bhaderwah’s Doda district through the CSIR-aroma Mission.

“Lavender cultivation has transformed the lives of many farmers, offering them higher incomes and economic stability,” the Minister said.

The CSIR-aroma Mission has been instrumental in promoting lavender cultivation in the temperate regions of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Its primary goal is to increase the income of small and marginal farmers and foster the development of agriculture-based startups, they said.

The officials said as part of the mission, the CSIR-IIIM has provided more than 30 lakh free lavender plants to farmers in different districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

The institute has also offered end-to-end technology packages for cultivation, processing, value addition, and marketing of lavender crops, further supporting farmers, they said.

To aid the processing of lavender, the CSIR-IIIM has installed 50 distillation units at various locations across Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.

“The successful adoption of lavender cultivation by small and marginal maize farmers in the temperate regions of Jammu has led to the establishment of a new industry in the region. More than 2,500 farmers are now cultivating lavender in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir,” an official said.

Why in the News?

Recently, India’s First Lavender Festival was inaugurated in Jammu’s Bhaderwah.

• Lavender cultivation has generated employment for about 5,000 farmers and young entrepreneurs in Jammu & Kashmir remote areas. Over 1,000 farming families cultivating it on 200 acres.

What is the Lavender Revolution?

• About:
  • The Purple or Lavender Revolution waslaunched in 2016 by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology through the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Aroma Mission.
  • Lavender cultivation is practiced in almost all the 20 districts of Jammu & Kashmir.
  • Under the mission,first-time farmers were given free lavender saplings, while those who had cultivated lavender before were charged Rs. 5-6 per sapling.
• Aim:
  • To support domestic aromatic crop-based agro-economy by moving from imported aromatic oils to homegrown varieties.
• Products:
  • Main product is Lavender oil which sells for at least Rs. 10,000 per litre.
  • Lavender water, which separates from lavender oil, is used to make incense sticks.
  • Hydrosol, which is formed after distillation from the flowers, is used to make soaps and room fresheners.
• Significance:
  • It is in sync with the government policy of doubling farm incomes by 2022.
  • It will help in providing means of livelihood to budding farmers and agri-entrepreneurs and give a boost to Start-Up India Campaign and promote a spirit of entrepreneurship in the region.
    • Over 500 youth had taken benefit from the purple revolution and augmented their income many-fold.

What is an Aroma Mission?

• About:
  • The CSIR Aroma Mission isenvisaged to bring transformative change in the aroma sector through desired interventions in the areas of agriculture, processing, and product development for fuelling the growth of the aroma industry and rural employment.
  • The mission will promote the cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oilsthat are in great demand by the aroma industry.
  • It is expected to enable Indian farmers and the aroma industry to become global leaders in producing and exporting some other essential oils in the pattern of menthol mint.
  • It aims to provide substantial benefits to the farmers in achieving higher profits, using waste lands, and protecting their crops from wild and grazing animals.
• Aroma Mission Phase-I and II:
  • During Phase-I, CSIR helped cultivate 6000 hectares of land and covered 46 Aspirational districts across the country. Further, more than 44,000 people were trained.
  • In February 2021, CSIR launched Phase-II of Aroma Mission in which it is proposed to engage over 45,000 skilled human resources and will benefit more than 75,000 farming families across the country.
• Nodal Agencies:
  • The nodal laboratory is CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow.
• Intended Outcomes:
  • Bring about 5500 ha of additional area under captive cultivation of aromatic cash crops particularly targeting rain-fed /degraded land across the country.
  • Provide technical and infrastructural support for distillation and value-addition to farmers/growers nationwide.
  • Enabling effective buy-back mechanisms to assure remunerative prices to the farmers/growers.
  • Value-addition to essential oils and aroma ingredients for their integration into global trade and economy.

 

 

 

Blog By: Trupti Thakur