■ CSIR Aroma Mission: Transforming lives through S&T A Speci | UPSC Notes EPFO Labour Law
■ CSIR Aroma Mission: Transforming lives through S&T
A Special Webinar on the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Aroma Mission was organized on the eve of India’s 75th Independence Day by the Ministry of Science & Technology.
Jammu & Kashmir pave the way for the ‘Purple Revolution’ of India by taking a lead in the lavender cultivation in almost all the 20 districts of the Union Territory.
CSIR’s Aroma Mission is generating new avenues of self-livelihood and entrepreneurship.
● Aroma Mission:
The CSIR Aroma Mission, launched in 2016, is envisaged to bring transformative change in the aroma sector through desired interventions.
It is aimed at the development of superior aroma crop varieties and their agro-technologies and assessment of their suitability for large-scale cultivation in specific agro-climatic regions.
The mission will promote the cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oils that are in great demand by the aroma industry.
It enables Indian farmers and the aroma industry to become global leaders in the production and export of some other essential oils on the pattern of menthol mint.
● Nodal agencies:
CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow is the nodal laboratory for the mission.
The participating laboratories are CSIRInstitute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT), Palampur; CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, etc.
● Objectives of the Mission:
Development of superior varieties and their agro-technologies and assessment of their suitability for specific agro-climatic regions
Promotion of cultivation and processing of aromatic crops, enhancing area under selected aromatic crops
Value-addition of aromatic crops
Skill development activities
Intellectual property generation, valuation, and management
Entrepreneurship development
Business development
● Achievements:
It 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.
With CSIR’s Aroma Mission, important medicinal and aromatic plants are being cultivated in 6,000 hectares of land.
The Mission has generated 10 to 12 lakh man-days of rural employment and more than 500 tonnes of essential oil worth Rs.60 crores was produced during the last two years.
● Purple Revolution:
Its aim is to support the domestic aromatic crop-based agro-economy by moving from imported aromatic oils to homegrown varieties.
Around 500 farmers from the Doda district have seen similar gains after switching from maize to the perennial flowering plant.
As the profits started flowing in, lavender replaced maize plants on more land around with lavender till the flowers covered almost ten times the area than a decade ago.
Main product is Lavender oil which sells for at least Rs. 10,000 per litre Lavender water, which separates from lavender oil, is used to make incense sticks.
● Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR):
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is an autonomous body established in 1942.
It is located in New Delhi.
CSIR known for its cutting edge R&D knowledge base in diverse S&T areas is a contemporary R&D organization.
CSIR has a dynamic network of 37 national laboratories, 39 outreach centres, 3 Innovation Complexes, and five units with a pan-India presence.
CSIR is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
● Organisation Structure :
President: Prime Minister of India (Ex-officio)
Vice President: Union Minister of Science and Technology (Ex-officio)
Governing Body: The Director-General is the head of the governing body.
The other ex-officio member is the finance secretary (expenditures).
Other members' terms are of three years.
SOURCE - PIB
