The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Lavender cultivation turns farmers into big businessmen in J&K’S Doda
WHEN LAVENDER cultivation was first introduced to Bhaderwah subdivision in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district in 2015, most farmers were sceptical and just a handful gave it a go. Today, these early adopters have significantly expanded cultivation, employ 3040 people each on a full-time basis, have their own distillation units for making lavender oil, and market their products in different parts of the country.
Once a small-scale farmer, Bharat Bhushan from Lehrote village is among the success stories. Having dropped out of school after class 10, he now earns Rs 1-1.5 lakh a month. In 2018, he bought the family’s first car – for his son – and later, another one for himself.
Another early adopter, Touqeer Bagban, has studied up to class 11. “Before lavender cultivation, I had a motorcycle. Today, I have a Thar,” said Bagban, who is from Vasuki Dera mohalla of Bhaderwah town.
Farmers in several villages of Bhaderwah subdivision are increasinglymovingtolavendercultivation from maize crop, bringing with it a marked improvement in livelihood.
According to officials, more than 700 acres of farmland has been brought under lavender cultivation in the area since 2017, and another 100 acres is set to be added. The crop was officially introduced in Bhaderwah by the Council Of Scientific and Industrial Research-indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, in 2015.
Until 2017, no one in Tipri, Lehrote, or Karyan – villages with nearly 200 households – had a four-wheeler, and most of the houses there were kutcha.
In Tipri, former sarpanch Om Parkash started cultivating lavender instead of maize in 2016, and two years later, he became one of the first in the village to own a car, a Maruti Alto.
Now, the entire village cultivates lavender, and around half of the 60 households have a vehicle. The situation is similar in Lehrote and Karyan. Moreover, nearly all houses in the three villages — all in Tipri panchayat — are now pucca. “Earlier, I used to grow a maize crop and earn only Rs 15,000-20,000 from it. After lavender cultivation, I started earning Rs 1-1.5 lakh,” said Nek Chand of Tipri.
Lavender, which can be grown in areas that experience snowfall and have a hilly terrain, blossomsandisreadyforharvesting two-and-a-half years after it is planted. The same plant can bear flowers for 18-20 years, and does not require the amount of insecticides, pesticides, and other chemicals used on conventional crops like maize and paddy.
Dr Zabeer Ahmed, director of CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, said: “In 2014, we tried to persuade farmers to start lavender cultivation, but they were reluctant in view of the risks involved in switching over from their conventional maize crop.” In 2015, he said, lavender cultivation was introduced in Bhaderwah under the CSIR’S Aroma Mission.
Bharat Bhushan and Touqeer Bagban were among just a handful of farmers to take it up at the time. Now, Ahmed said, they are industrialists. They are not only making oil from lavender flowers, but are also involved in further development of the product, like manufacturing perfumes, soaps, agarbatti, room fresheners, and so on, and selling them in the market. They have even established their own labs for quality testing of the oil, and one of them also has a marketing office in Goa. Both have also formed a cluster of farmers who, too, have started growing lavender on their land.
Ahmed said CSIR plans to distribute lavender plants to farmers in parts of Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch, and the Kashmir Valley, besides Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the Northeast.
He said that 50 distillation plants, including five mobile units, have been set up across the Union Territory of J&K to help farmers extract oil from the lavender flowers.
CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, provides lavender growers end-to-end support.
A small worry
However, the sharp decline in the price of lavender oil, now around Rs 2,500-3,000 per litre as opposed to Rs 12,000 a few years ago, is a worry. “We have to sustain this prosperity and the subsequent change in the lifestyle of these farmers,” Dr Ahmed said. The price drop has been attributed to the import of oil from Bulgaria, France and China by buyers elsewhere in India, he explained.