First Lavender Festival | 28 May 2022

Why in 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 was launched in 2016 by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology through the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Aroma Mission.
  • Lavender cultivation is practised 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 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.
  • The mission will promote the cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oils that are in great demand by the aroma industry.
  • 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.
  • It aims to provide substantial benefits to the farmers in achieving higher profits, utilisation of waste lands and protection of 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 values-addition to farmers/growers all over the country.
  • Enabling effective buy-back mechanisms to assure remunerative prices to the farmers/growers.
  • Value-addition to essential oils and aroma ingredients for their integration in global trade and economy.

Source: PIB