Agri deptt organizes Lavender fest in Anantnag

Srinagar, June 20: The Agriculture Department Kashmir on Tuesday organized Lavender Festival in Sir Hama farm in Bijbehara, Anantnag as the lavender harvest has started in the valley.
The day was aimed to educate farmers and people about the scope of lavender and the associated schemes of the department so that youth can start small-scale businesses through the value addition of lavender oil.
Director Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhary Muhammad Iqbal, who was chief guest on the occasion, talked about the importance of lavender and aromatic plants.
He also talked about the two approved projects of floriculture that would revive and boost floriculture.
Dr Anjum Rashid, Floriculturist, Department of Agriculture Kashmir said unemployed youth have turned up and have taken up the lavender and the day is aimed to encourage youth to take part in the lavender cultivation.
“The lavender is in full bloom these days. We celebrated the day as the lavender harvesting has started in the valley farms. Now youth have shown interest in lavender. We also informed them to take lavender as entrepreneurship,” she said.
“Floriculture is something which is synonymous with agriculture. Many people still do not know about the floriculture wing of the agriculture department. We have been working on a mission mode and now people are coming up and seeking flower seedlings,” she said.
Dr Anjum said 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.
She said that lavender cultivation has employed large numbers of farmers and young entrepreneurs in the geographically remote regions of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Many young entrepreneurs have started small-scale businesses through the value addition of lavender oil, hydrosol and dried flowers,” she said.
The CSIR-aroma Mission has been instrumental in promoting lavender cultivation in the temperate regions of Jammu and Kashmir. Its primary goal is to increase the income of small and marginal farmers and foster the development of agriculture-based startups.
“The youth were informed about the scope of lavender cultivation and how they can register and take the benefits of the schemes of the department,” Dr Anjum said.
The floriculturist also said that Sir Hama village has become a tourist attraction and many tourists visit there to have a glimpse of the lavender and its farming. She said that this year, the department distributed lavender seedlings and other aromatic plants free of cost to the farmers in different districts of Kashmir. “The move was aimed to encourage the farmers to take in plantations of aromatic plants. We expect that more and more youth take up the initiative,” she added.
Dr Anjum also informed that initially there were about 55 hectares of land under lavender cultivation with total oil production of 215 litres.
“In the Union Territory, now with the intervention of the agriculture department, the lavender area, as well as the oil production, has increased manifold,” she said.
Joint Director, Agriculture Department Kashmir (Inputs), Mohd Younis Chowdhary and Chief Agriculture Officer Anantnag were also present on the occasion.