Success story
Jammu and Kashmir though being a hilly terrain mostly has ample of opportunities for the people here to earn a living through various agricultural practices that too quite decently. Although various sectors like agriculture, horticulture, pesiculture, sericulture and other activities are providing gainful employments to lakhs of people but some new introductions in other sectors has also created a whole lot of new opportunities.
One such is Lavender cultivation that has seen a major push forward by the government as well as various schemes have been implemented which in turn has increased the farmers income by 4 to 5 times. This is the reason that thousands of farmers across Jammu and Kashmir are shifting to lavender cultivation which has proved very profitable for them.
Statistics suggest that 5000 entrepreneurs and farmers are cultivating lavender on more than 200 acres of land which has led to four to five times increase in their earnings. These growers have shifted from other agricultural practices that included cultivation of cereals, maize, rice and millets. These products though in demand did not provide great returns but with the shift towards lavender cultivation, the earnings have gone up several times.
Lavender cultivation, also called ‘Purple Revolution’, is an initiative of the Central government to improve the incomes of farmers in J&K. Many farmers have given up traditional farming and switched to lavender farming for profitability.
Cultivation of lavender has changed fortunes of farmers in Jammu and Kashmir under ‘Aroma Mission or Purple Revolution’, transforming lives of UT’s farmers community.
Launched in 2016 by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Aroma Mission, the aim of the mission is to support domestic aromatic crop-based agro-economy by moving from imported aromatic oils to home-grown varieties.
Interestingly, Lavender cultivation is practiced in almost all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Under the mission, first-time farmers were given free lavender saplings while those who had cultivated lavender before were charged for it.
In J&K, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu (IIIM Jammu) are the two bodies responsible for implementation of Aroma Mission. The CSIR Aroma Mission is envisaged 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 aroma industry and rural employment.
It is expected to enable Indian farmers and the aroma industry to become global leaders in the production and export of some other essential oils in the pattern of menthol mint.
According to the Lavender farmers, the selling of at least one litre of its oil fetches them Rs 20,000. The farmers say that lavender grown over one hectare of land gives them a minimum of 40 litre of lavender oil.
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.
At present Doda district is leading the way and four distillation units have been set up by CSIR-IIIM Jammu in the district. Similar stories can be replicated in the Kashmir division which also offers perfect climatic conditions for lavender growth.
