Srinagar, Nov 16: The Agriculture Department in Jammu in a significant move has established a first-of-its-kind lavender farm, spread over 40 kanals of government land. It is expected to push the lavender sector and the cultivation.
Chief Agriculture Officer, Kathua, Sanjeev Rai said they have established the first-of-its-kind lavender farm in Jammu province at Challah village in the area of Bani. The farm, spread over 40 kanals of land, is owned by the Department of Agriculture Production and Farmers’ Welfare Kathua.
The CAO expressed gratitude to the Director of Agriculture Kashmir for supporting the establishment of the lavender farm with 30,000 lavender saplings (cuttings).
“We have planted the 30,000 cuttings on 30 kanals of land. The lavender farm will not only increase the income of local farmers but become a famous tourist attraction,” he said.
The officer said the government's ownership of a lavender farm aims to increase awareness of lavender cultivation within the local farming community. This initiative serves as a model for an alternative income source, contributing to the upliftment of the regional economy, he said.
The CAO said they often face issues in bringing the lavender sapling which they often take from Kashmir and Doda. He said the establishment of the farm would become a valuable source of quality planting material for farmers in the adjoining Bani and Duggan Blocks, with the potential to supply saplings to other areas in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
Sanjeev said they are working for the further promotion of lavender in the region by organising training and awareness programmes to encourage cultivation. “We encourage farmers to turn the wasteland into lavender cultivation. From next year farmers will be given the plant cuttings from the farm only,” he said, adding, "We started last year only. The first project was done under Aroma Mission on 25 hectares of land that belonged to farmers."
The CAO said there is a good market for the lavender and farmers can take this opportunity to turn wasteland into a source of livelihood.
The agricultural officer said they are planning to prepare a detailed project report under which they would suggest further development and upgradation in the infrastructure at the new farm. “In future, the lavender would get a further boost,” he said.
The CSIR-Aroma Mission is a flagship project of CSIR under which Lavender cultivation is being promoted in the temperate regions of J&K. The aim of the project is to increase the income of small and marginal farmers and develop agriculture-based Startups.
Agriculture officials said the variety of lavender is highly suitable for cultivation in the rainfed temperate regions of India. Under the CSIR-Aroma Mission, CSIR-IIIM introduced Lavender and provided more than 30 lakh free Lavender plants to the farmers of different districts of J&K.
Notably, earlier this year, the Jammu and Kashmir government approved two projects on floriculture and their implementation is expected to bring a major change in the floriculture sector and provide a significant boost.