SRINAGAR: More than 5,000 farmers in Jammu and Kashmir have diversified to high-value medicinal and aromatic crops under CSIR’s Aroma Mission, with lavender cultivation emerging as a major driver of rural entrepreneurship and bioeconomy in the region, Director of CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, Dr Zabeer Ahmed, said on Saturday.
The announcement came as Dr Ahmed inaugurated the 2026 lavender harvesting season at the CSIR-IIIM Field Station in Bonera, Pulwama, where blooming lavender fields marked the start of the annual harvest. He said sustained scientific interventions, quality planting material and technology transfer had enabled thousands of farmers to move away from conventional crops towards climate-resilient, high-return cultivation.
Addressing scientists, farmers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders during the event, Dr. Ahmed said the Bonera Field Station had evolved into a comprehensive innovation hub that integrates research, technology development, entrepreneurship and industrial linkages for medicinal and aromatic plants.
He said the institute’s efforts, carried out under the CSIR Aroma Mission, had positioned Jammu and Kashmir as a national leader in the bioeconomy based on natural products.
Dr Ahmed said the institute had developed standardised cultivation protocols, elite planting material and efficient distillation technologies that had significantly improved crop productivity, essential oil quality and farmers’ profitability.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, he said the Bonera Field Station had also emerged as an incubation centre for agri-startups and rural enterprises by providing technical mentoring, business incubation, training and market linkages.
He said these initiatives had encouraged entrepreneurs to establish ventures in essential oil production, natural fragrances, herbal extracts, nutraceuticals and value-added phytopharmaceutical products, while strengthening local value chains and ensuring a steady supply of quality raw material to the country’s aroma, cosmetic, wellness and phytopharmaceutical industries.
Dr Ahmed said the Field Station also serves as a key demonstration centre for medicinal and aromatic plants in Jammu and Kashmir and provides the platform for implementing several national programmes, including the Aroma Mission, Floriculture Mission, Phytopharmaceutical Mission, Region-Specific Smart Agriculture Mission and the Himalayan Bioresource Conservation Mission.
Over the years, the Bonera Field Station has developed into CSIR-IIIM’s principal centre for research, technology validation and large-scale dissemination of elite medicinal and aromatic crops suited to the agro-climatic conditions of Jammu and Kashmir.
The station undertakes research and demonstrations on crops including lavender, rosemary, clarysage, damask rose, mint, artemisia, salvia, saffron, olive, wild marigold and several floriculture species, while supporting quality planting material production, advanced agronomic practices, post-harvest processing, essential oil distillation and value addition.
Scientist In-charge of the Bonera Field Station, Dr Shahid Rasool, said the facility had become a “living laboratory” where new agricultural technologies were validated under actual farming conditions before being transferred to farmers.
He said the station’s focus remained on improving productivity, enhancing essential oil quality, building farmers’ capacities, supporting agri-startups and facilitating commercialisation of technologies to create sustainable rural enterprises.
The event concluded with the commencement of the annual lavender harvest, reaffirming CSIR-IIIM’s efforts to promote Jammu and Kashmir as a leading centre for medicinal and aromatic crop cultivation and natural product-based industries.
