Scheme to boost medicinal plants cultivation in JK launched

To encourage farmers in the Valley to cultivate medicinal and aromatic plants, the government has come up with Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojna, under which it will provide saplings and scientific guidance to the people.
Speaking at the launch of the programme, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology Jitendra Singh said it would be first implemented in Kathua district of Jammu, which is currently bearing the brunt of firing from across the Line of Control.
The minister said the move would involve institutes under Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) like Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and North Eastern Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST).

To start with, saplings will be provided by IIIM, Jammu and scientific guidance will be rendered by a team of experts from these five laboratories of CSIR.
As many as 1000 villages will be covered under the scheme. Villages will be divided into different clusters and the headquarter of each cluster will be the place of distribution of saplings, training and collection of produce.
Scientifically tested and commercially beneficial nine varieties of plants have been selected for this project. The list of plants includes five different varieties of lemon grass (Cymbopogon), Rose (Rosa), Mint (Mentha), Ashwagandha (Withaniasomnifera) and Phalsa fruit plant.

"The project is designed to benefit the farmers of far flung areas of Udhampur constituency, having land holdings in such a terrain where the yield of traditionally grown crops is disproportionately low. The Valley is also home to several aromatic and medicinal plants.

"We have already started the survey of villages at Kathua district bordering Pakistan. We hope the aromatic plant send a positive signs to the neighbouring nations," Singh said, in an apparent reference to the firing from across the LOC.
The minister claimed that farmers would be able to earn Rs 1 to 1.5 lakh/annum/hectare (2.4 acres) through the programme. In some parts, IIIM will start the project on land leased/rented out by farmers on partnership basis. Profits will be shared with the lessor farmers proportionately.

The government will also spend more than Rs 25 crore on this scheme besides technical supervision by CSIR team.