Focus: Prelims, GS-III: Agriculture (Technological advancements related to Agriculture)
Why in News?
Farmers in hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir are switching from traditional farming to aroma crops like lavender in a big way.
- Also,“Purple Revolution” has shifted focus to Agri-tech StartUps.
About Purple Revolution:
- 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.
- 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.
- High Monetary returns have led to the switching from traditional farming to aroma crops like lavender by farmers in hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Aroma crops are both drought and pest resistant.
- CSIR is providing all kind of technical support for promoting this Agri Start-up boon in the UT.
- CSIR is also planning to introduce the aroma crops in other hilly States with similar climatic conditions like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and in North-Eastern States.
About 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.
- The nodal laboratory is CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow. The participating laboratories are CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT), Palampur; CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu etc.
- It is changing the mind-set of farmers and more and more of them are taking up the cultivation of aroma crops like lavender, lemon grass, rose and marigold for extracting costly oils to be used in many industries.
- It is expected to enable Indian farmers and aroma industry to become global leaders in the production and export of some other essential oils on the pattern of menthol mint.
- Lavender cultivation has employed about 5,000 farmers and young entrepreneurs in geographically remote areas of J&K. More than 1,000 farming families are cultivating it on more than 200 acres.
Uses and Products of Lavender
- 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.
