What is the Purple Revolution? Doubling Jammu Kashmir’s Farmer Incomes

Purple Revolution

The “Purple Revolution” refers to the rapid growth of lavender cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir, India, which has colored the landscape with vibrant purple hues. This revolutionary transformation is driven by the Indian government’s “Aroma Mission,” launched in 2016 by the Ministry of Science and Technology through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to promote high-value aromatic crops like lavender.

The Aroma Mission provides end-to-end scientific interventions to aid lavender farming, from distributing free saplings to setting up oil extraction machines. This has enabled the cultivation of over 6,000 hectares of aromatic crops across India. In Jammu and Kashmir, dominated by small landholdings, lavender farming has especially flourished, doubling farmer incomes as the oil sells for exorbitant rates. Hence, this support for lavender cultivation has sparked a “Purple Revolution,” transforming Jamie and Kashmir’s economy.

Aroma Mission Initiative

The Aroma Mission was launched in 2016 by India’s Ministry of Science and Technology through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) with the aim to promote the cultivation of aromatic crops like lavender.

The Aroma Mission was started in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district which is regarded as the birthplace of India’s Purple Revolution. In Phase 1 (2016-2021), the mission facilitated lavender farming across 6,000 hectares while Phase 2 (2022 onwards) aims to cover 75,000 households across India.

In the first phase from 2016-2021, CSIR helped cultivate lavender across 6,000 hectares of land while covering 46 districts and training over 44,000 farmers. The techniques used in this aroma mission include distributing free quality saplings to farmers and setting up oil extraction machines in the cultivation regions. For instance, in Jammu and Kashmir, CSIR enabled end-to-end scientific interventions in lavender farming which led to the region’s Purple Revolution.

Through public-private partnerships, the mission also aims to develop aromatic crop-based products for domestic and international markets. In short, the Aroma Mission exemplifies India’s science-led strategy to boost farmers’ incomes and agricultural entrepreneurship.

What are the Benefits of Purple Revolution?

There are mainly 3 major benefits of Purple revolution economic benefit, environmental benefits and social benefits.

1. Economic Benefits: Lavender cultivation through the Purple Revolution has delivered economic gains for farmers in Jammu and Kashmir. Lavender is a high-value cash crop and its oil fetches high prices of around Rs 10,000 per litre. Consequently, lavender farming has doubled the incomes of small landholding farmers in the region. The aroma mission is now targeting to deliver similar income benefits to over 75,000 farming households across India through lavender and other aromatic crops cultivation.
2. Environmental Benefits: The cultivation of lavender is eco-friendly as it is a drought-resistant crop that does not require pesticides or other chemical inputs. Promoting lavender farming helps develop a sustainable agricultural model that protects the fragile Himalayan ecosystem of Jammu and Kashmir. Such aromatic crop-based farming is critical for regions vulnerable to climate change.
3. Social Benefits: The aromatic crop mission has created new employment opportunities in agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism in Jammu and Kashmir. There is rising demand for value-added lavender products like essential oils, perfumes and incense sticks. This is leading to more jobs in product processing units. Furthermore, the region’s “Lavender Valley” has become a tourist attraction. Thus the purple revolution is stimulating rural entrepreneurship and services employment.

How is Lavender Cultivation done?

Lavender is an aromatic flowering plant valued for its essential oils used in cosmetics, perfumes and medicinal products. Research on lavender’s bioactive compounds like linalool indicates anti-inflammatory, sedative and anti-depressant properties that can help treat ailments like insomnia, stress and skin inflammation. The temperate climate of Jammu and Kashmir provides ideal conditions for lavender cultivation as the plant withstands the cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers of the region.

Lavender is a hardy crop that starts flowering from its second year after sowing and continues for around 15 years with minimal inputs. Once established, no tilling or frequent watering is required. Also, as a perennial plant, farmers save on costs of preparing new beds every season. Compared to traditional crops, lavender promises much higher returns per hectare due to the high value of lavender oil.

The agro-climatic suitability and low maintenance nature make lavender a profitable cash crop for Jammu and Kashmir’s small landholding farmers. Through the aroma mission, CSIR is providing the perfect lavender variety – CSIR-IIIM Jammu Lavender – along with end-to-end scientific interventions to aid farmers in cultivating, harvesting and extracting high quality oil.

What are the Lavander cultivation area in India?

To boost domestic saffron production, pilot cultivation initiatives were taken up across 15 sites in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim. These locations were identified as having suitable climatic and geographical similarities with the major saffron growing belt of Pampore, Kashmir using geospatial analysis. The initial results showing flowering and corm multiplication are promising for taking up large scale saffron cultivation in North-East India.

What is CSIR’s Role in Purple Revolution?

The CSIR has been the key catalyst for the Purple Revolution in Jammu and Kashmir through its scientific interventions under the Aroma Mission. It developed the high quality, high yield CSIR-IIIM Jammu Lavender variety suitable for cultivation in the region.

CSIR provides these free lavender saplings along with end-to-end agro-technologies to aid farmers. It also sets up advanced distillation machines in production clusters to extract premium quality lavender oil. By facilitating both lavender farming and oil extraction, CSIR enables farmers to maximize profits from this aromatic crop.

Through this lab to market approach, the CSIR has driven the phenomenal growth of lavender cultivation and the resultant Purple Revolution in Jammu and Kashmir.

What can be done more in Purple revolution growth?

To sustain the momentum of the Purple Revolution, the Aroma Mission aims to engage over 45,000 skilled professionals in its second phase from 2022 onwards. The key priority is to expand lavender and aromatic crops cultivation to benefit more than 75,000 farming households across India.

Simultaneously, entrepreneurship needs to be promoted to capitalize on emerging market opportunities for lavender-based products. Aromatic crop startups can be encouraged under initiatives like Startup India through government incentives and incubation support.

Additionally, large-scale campaigns are vital to raise awareness among farmers on the immense benefits of adopting lavender and other aromatic crops over traditional options. This multifaceted approach can ensure the aromatic farming mission brings transformative and inclusive rural development in the future.

What are the Medical Benefits of Saffron?

Saffron is known to contain antioxidant compounds like crocin, picrocrocin and safranal that have therapeutic properties like anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-depressant and anti-inflammatory effects.

The CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine is researching the compounds present in lavender flower extract residue or ‘marc’ left after distillation of lavender oil. Scientists have isolated some new molecules that will be tested for potential anticancer abilities, which could raise lavender’s commercial value.

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