Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 28: The CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu, is set to organize the 3rd Lavender Festival on June 1st and 2nd at the Government Degree College, Bhaderwah, in District Doda.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also Vice President CSIR, will inaugurate the festival.
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This was informed by Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM, while addressing media during the curtain raiser event of Lavender Festival, here today.
Dr Ahmed explained that under the CSIR-Aroma Mission, a flagship programme of Union Ministry of Science & Technology, CSIR-IIIM has played a pivotal role in empowering rural communities through the cultivation of lavender by engaging over 5,000 farmers and young entrepreneurs in remote areas, providing free Quality Planting Material (QPM) and complete technological support, covering cultivation, processing, value addition, and marketing.
Under this mission, he added, more than 50 distillation units across J&K were installed to support local-level processing of lavender produce while Tehsil Bhaderwah in District Doda has emerged as a model region wherein farmers have sold quality planting material (QPM) of Lavender worth over Rs 1 crore. Local growers have produced 1,500 kilograms of lavender oil and 93,000 kilograms of dried lavender flowers, which were successfully marketed while a total business turnover of Rs 10.5 crore has been recorded, he further said highlighting the mission’s substantial socio-economic impact.
Director, CSIR-IIIM pointed out that this year’s festival will be unique in many ways, as it celebrates the growing success of lavender cultivation under the CSIR-Aroma Mission, not only across the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir but also in extended regions such as Uttarakhand and the North-Eastern states.
“The primary objective of the Lavender Festival is to celebrate this success and further promote agri-based entrepreneurship in aromatic crops. The event will bring together a diverse group of participants, including, farmers, scientists and researchers, startups and industrialists, policy makers and civil society representatives from across the country,” he said, adding that the festival will also host a Agri Startup Expo, showcasing innovations in value-added products and technologies related to lavender.
During the press briefing, “Lavender Festival 2025” portal was launched, and the Lavender Festival Brochure was also released.
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