India's first Lavender festival held in J-K's Bhaderwah
Doda (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 27: Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh inaugurated India's first 'Lavender Festival' in Bhaderwah on May 27.
Addressing the event, Singh said, "Bhaderwah is the potential destination of agri-tech startups of the country. Lavender Festival in the valley of Bhaderwah is the best example of the development of the present progressive government at the centre. Bhaderwah is the best place for lavender cultivation in terms of land and climate."
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The Minister said that the development prospects of PM Modi-led government for the far-flung areas like Bhaderwah can also be judged from the fact that the country's first National Institute of High-Altitude Medicine is being built in Bhaderwah which will attract scholars and researchers not only from India but across the globe generating employment opportunities for the region.
He further said that the agriculturist Bharat Bhushan called the Brand Ambassador of Purple Revolution in India is an inspiration for youth in J-K towards startup culture.
The Minister also inaugurated six distillation units under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) for lavender situated at six different places.
Three MoUs were also signed between CSIR-IIIM Jammu with Agro Voltic Power, Mussoorie Uttarakhand, Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar Punjab and Fine Fragrance Power Limited, Mumbai.
The Lavender Festival in Bhaderwah is being attended by scientists, technologists, progressive Farmers and agri-entrepreneurs drawn from different parts of the country including Jammu and Kashmir.
Lavender festival is also introduced to farmers in Doda, Rama, Kishtwar, Kathua, Udhampur, Rajouri, Pulwama, Anantnag, Kupwara and Bandipora districts. It provided free quality planting material and end-to-end technology package for cultivation, processing, value addition and marketing of the Lavender crop to the farmers.
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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.
-PTC News
