Stop and smell the lavender

To find out more,she paid a visit to the RRL. “I decided to cultivate lavender on an experimental basis,” says Amin who has completed her MBBS from the Jhelum Valley Medical College (now,SKIMS Medical College) and also worked as a field demonstrator for a few years.

Amin says she was interested in farming since her childhood and “wanted to do farming by scientific means”.

She says she purchased lavender saplings from the RRL. “I planted it on my ancestral farm in Isham and flowers started blooming within days. In some time,I also set up an oil distillation unit in my farm.”

She soon quit her job and started spending most of her time at her three lavender farms — in Pulwama,Isham and Tangmarg areas of the Valley — which she had set up over the years.

Amin exports lavender oil,under the brand name of Faisam Agros,to states across the country as well as the United Kingdom. She also sells packaged lavender and rose oil in the local markets.

Of the total five tonnes of lavender oil produced in the Valley,over a tonne comes from Amin’s oil distillery unit.

Amin feels “farmers can replace maize in dry zones with lavender plantation as it fetches good dividends and needs little water”.

“But it is never feasible to replace the apple orchards with lavender,” she warns.

She terms the fragrant herb a zero-fight crop. “It can grow anywhere,is disease-free and needs little nurturing for 20 years.”

With time,Amin also started planting Rosa Damascena (Turkish Rose),Geranium and Rosemary plants. “In the beginning my distillation unit used to function for two months only. With the addition of more varieties of flowers in the farm,the unit runs from May to December now.”

Despite having lavender plantation at three different places,the medico-turned-farmer says she is unable to meet the surging demand. “I don’t have enough lavender oil to supply to national and international markets.”

“ India has a vast market potential for lavender and other ornamental plants. So far we have only managed to tap a tiny share within the country,” she says.

The government recently awarded her with the state award in progressive farming.

“I am the first person to get the state award in farming.”

Head of Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) Dr A S Shawl,who claims to have pioneered lavender farming in the Valley two decades ago,says: “This time we have managed to produce five tonnes of lavender oil,but we have a potential to produce and export more than 1,000 tonnes of it in the coming years.”

The annual global demand for lavender oil is around 3,000 tonnes.

“As of now,more than 100 farmers and entrepreneurs have forayed into lavender farming and many more are seeking information to plant it in their fields,” says Shawl.

The efforts of IIIM scientists show in the form of tiny lavender farms dotting Kashmir’s countryside.

Shawl says that IIIM has also developed a lavender park at a tourist resort Pahalgam. “The lavender park has been established to raise awareness among the people,especially farmers,besides helping to promote the eco-tourism.”

As for Amin,she has her plan charted out. “I want to develop more lavender fields and nurseries in different districts of the Valley,” she says.