Overview
- The two-day Lavender Festival, which ran June 6–7 in Bhaderwah, convened farmers, CSIR scientists, industry leaders, startups and policymakers under the theme “Lavender Goes Global.”
- CSIR-IIIM reported measurable gains from the Aroma Mission, citing nearly 1,500 hectares under lavender, about 4,500 beneficiary families, more than 4,000 kg of oil extracted and cumulative revenues of around Rs 18 crore.
- Festival discussions produced MoUs, product launches and technical sessions but organisers and ministers warned that current production volumes and local distillation capacity are too small for large-scale exports.
- The initiative has already spawned new rural businesses and women-led enterprises in nurseries, harvesting, processing and value-added products, and it is credited with drawing youth back into agriculture.
- Officials said the Aroma Mission will be scaled to other Himalayan and temperate states and that next steps include documenting festival recommendations, expanding distillation infrastructure, strengthening branding and improving market aggregation.