New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir heralds the 'Purple Revolution' of India by taking a lead in lavender cultivation under the 'Aroma Mission' in almost all the 20 districts of the Union Territory, Science and Technology minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday.

In particular, the districts of Kathua, Udhampur, Doda, Ramban, Kishtwar, Rajouri, Srinagar, Pulwama, Kupwara, Bandipora, Budgam, Ganderbal, Anantnag, Kulgam and Baramulla have made a huge headway in this direction, he observed.

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Delivering keynote address at the Special Webinar on Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Aroma Mission on the eve of India's 75th Independence Day, Singh said that the CSI) has visible footprints in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.

He said the CSIR's Aroma Mission is generating new avenues of self-livelihood and entrepreneurship.

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India is a vast country and its different parts have similar resources, said Singh, adding these should be used by all stakeholders to everyone's benefit.

The minister suggested holding a conference at the national capital to share the best practices from across the country.

He also floated the idea of having inter-ministerial committees with ministries, such as Agriculture, DoNER (Department of Northeast Region), Education and Health and Family Welfare as its constituents.

Terming the new-age farmers as 'agri-technocrats', Singh observed that the Aroma Mission of the CSIR has generated rural employment of farmers, spurred entrepreneurship in aromatic oils and other aromatic products manufacturing, and lowered the import of essential and aromatic oils.

Today, with CSIR's Aroma Mission, important medicinal and aromatic plants are being cultivated in 6,000 hectares of land, he said.

The mission has generated 10 to 12 lakh man-days of rural employment and more than 500 tonnes of essential oil worth Rs 60 crore during the last two years.

During the meeting, Singh also engaged in a virtual interaction with farmers engaged in the Aroma Mission through the CSIR from across the country, including Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam in Northeast, Shirdi in Maharashtra, Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)