Srinagar, Aug 23: With the constant interventions of the J&K Government, Lavender cultivation has been amplified across J&K by the implementation of various schemes which in turn has increased the farmer’s income by 4 to 5 times here.
Thousands of farmers in J&K are shifting to lavender cultivation which has proved very profitable for them. According to statistics, 5000 entrepreneurs/ farmers are cultivating lavender on more than 200 acres of land which has led to a 4 to 5 times increase in their economy. Farmers traditionally in J&K grew cereals such as maize, rice and millets which didn’t provide great returns but with lavender cultivation, their earnings have gone up several times.
Lavender cultivation also called as ‘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.
Ali Muhammad, a farmer from the Pulwama area of South Kashmir said, “Traditional farming was not giving us good returns. We are very happy with switching to lavender farming. Lavender farming also does not get much affected by less rainfall”.
Cultivation of lavender has changed fortunes of farmers in Jammu and Kashmir under the ‘Aroma Mission or Purple Revolution’, transforming the lives of UT’s farmer’s community. It was 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 the domestic aromatic crop-based agroeconomy by moving from imported aromatic oils to home-grown varieties.
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 Rs. 5-6 per sapling.
Farmers are happy with the farming of unconventional aromatic plants under Aroma Mission. The mission promotes the cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oils that are in great demand by the aroma industry.
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 across J&K.