Lavender Cultivation Under Purple Revolution.

Context:

‘Lavender Cultivation’ under CSIR-IIIM’s Aroma Mission will be started in Ramban district (Jammu Kashmir) as a part of Purple Revolution.

About Lavender

• A Mediterranean native, Lavender(Lavandula spica) is an aromatic and herbal shrub.
• Highly perfumed and beautiful flowers of the plant come in a variety of colors, for example, violet, blue, pink, mauve, and white can prove an excellent addition to your garden decor.
• The plant is perennial and requires a dry and sunny climate to grow. It is usually cultivated in regions with less rainfall.
• The soil for growing these plants needs to be well-draining and rich in calcium carbonate content. 

Lavender producing States

• At present, large-scale lavender cultivation is limited to J&K but governments in Himachal Pradesh, Arunahal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are also encouraging their farmers to take up lavender.
• Small scale farming of the plant is already underway in these states.

Purple 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’s (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.

Aroma Mission

• The 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.
• Objectives: 
  • To promote the cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oils.
  • To enable Indian farmers and the aroma industry to become global leaders.
  • To provide benefits to the farmers in achieving higher profits, utilization of waste lands and protection of their crops from wild and grazing animals.
  • Provided employment to women farmers
• Nodal Agencies: CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow.
• Aromatic Plants include 
  • Lavender
  • Damask rose
  • Mushk bala, etc.
• Projects include
  • 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.
  • Coverage: The project assured benefits to the growers of Vidarbha, Bundelkhand, Gujarat, Marathwada, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and other states where farmers are exposed to frequent episodes of weather extremes and account for maximum suicides.
• Outcomes:
  • Bring about 5500 ha of additional area under captive cultivation 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

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