India is now celebrated because the world’s third-largest start-up ecosystem, and boasts of a few of the fastest-growing unicorns. This spectacular enlargement will be traced again to Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s clarion name of “Begin-up India, arise India” that he gave in 2016, in a speech delivered from the Crimson Fort. Since then, the variety of start-ups has skyrocketed from simply over 350-400 in 2014 to greater than 130,000 in 2024, with every of the over 110 unicorns being the landmarks of this journey of enterprise within the nation.
Amidst this entrepreneurial increase, India’s agricultural sector has additionally seen many transformative modifications. Jammu and Kashmir (J&Ok), the place agriculture employs near 65% of the inhabitants and contributes round 27% to the Union Territory’s (UT) financial system, has traditionally confronted challenges. The area’s tough terrain, monkey menace, and poor accessibility have restricted intensive land utilisation, confining cultivation to conventional crops like rice, maize, wheat, and pulses — all of those being crops that always fail to offer adequate income for farmers.
Beneath the Modi authorities, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Analysis (CSIR), ministry of science and know-how, launched the Jammu and Kashmir Aroma Arogya Gram (JAAG) undertaking to handle a few of these agricultural challenges or supply a workaround by means of various crops. This ground-breaking initiative, popularly generally known as Aroma Mission, launched the cultivation and processing of medicinal and fragrant vegetation (MAPs) utilizing superior CSIR applied sciences. This, in flip, has paved the way in which for India’s Purple Revolution.
The registered farmers have been supplied with free, high-quality planting materials for half-an-acre of land and provided complete coaching in cultivation, processing, and advertising MAPs. The initiative considerably boosted farmers’ revenue and created new employment alternatives within the rural areas of the UT.
The lavender cultivation facet of this undertaking, championed by younger entrepreneurs, shattered the misperception that start-ups are largely, if not solely, confined to the areas of digital and data know-how, with many youths leaving profitable company jobs to have interaction in worthwhile lavender farming. This success story, originating from the small city of Bhaderwah within the distant, hilly district of Doda has led to the adoption of cultivation of lavender, has been taken up in different districts of J&Ok as nicely. Certainly, many Himalayan states, corresponding to Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland, have began comparable cultivation to offer their farmers higher incomes.
Each type of assist, together with the suitable technological assist at each stage — proper from cultivation to distillation at devoted amenities for creating a variety of lavender merchandise to arranging market linkages with business — was supplied by CSIR. Right now, over 1,300 hectares in J&Ok are below lavender cultivation, with notable progress in Ramnagar tehsil of Udhampur district. Consciousness campaigns on the plant’s prospects for farm profitability have additionally been carried out in Mendhar, Poonch, and Rajouri.
The influence of this initiative has garnered nationwide recognition. Bhaderwah’s lavender farms have been prominently featured on this yr’s Republic Day tableau at Kartavya Path, and these fields have turn into well-liked vacationer points of interest, additional boosting the native financial system.
Within the 99th version of his Mann Ki Baat deal with to the nation, PM Modi talked about CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medication’s position in supporting lavender cultivation. This yr, Doda district alone extracted 100 kg of contemporary lavender oil, with farmers harvesting almost 10 quintals of dry flowers, valued at ₹800-1,000 per kg. One kanal (roughly equal to 506 sq. metres) of land produces 80-90 kg of flowers, and farmers have offered high-quality planting materials value ₹45 lakh.
This initiative has not solely enhanced the revenue of Jammu and Kashmir farmers but in addition has opened up a brand new vista for agri start-ups. It creates a number of alternatives in value-added medicinal and beauty merchandise. The lavender success story is a textbook instance of the highly effective synergy between research-academia, business, and native youth entrepreneurship, extra of which is required to take the nation ahead on the trail to developed nation standing.
Dr Jitendra Singh is the minister of State (unbiased cost) for science and know-how.The views expressed are private
