Under the banner of “Catalyzing Rural Employment through Cultivation, Processing, value addition and Marketing of aromatic plants”, CSIR, Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine organised awareness programme under Aroma Mission on May 9 at Sheynam Community hall, Leh.

A team of scientist from CSIR-IIIM comprising Dr. Dhiraj Vyas and Dr. Sumeet Gairola came from Jammu and interacted with the farmers and students.

The farmers, Self Help groups from different villages and students from EJM College participated in the programme.

Sargun Shukla, SSP, Leh chief guest applauded the participation of large numbers of women in this programmes and encouraged them to take advantage from this opportunity being provided under CSIR Aroma Mission.

She said, “Farmers profession is a noble one but is getting less respect. People should encourage their children to take up farming in modern ways to improve their income. The J&K Police is always keen to uplift and support the youths in their endeavors, they should study on agriculture and take up this profession.”

Dr. Dhiraj Vyas while giving an introduction to the research and societal initiative of IIIM in Ladakh said that there are lots of potential in the field of medicinal and aromatic plants in Ladakh.  He encourages people to explore and cultivate these plants.

He said, “We got a land in Stakna where we are planning to set up a scientific centre. In the coming days, we are going to start working on it.”

Dr. Sumeet Gairola gave a detailed introduction about CSIR Aroma Mission to the participants. He shared details of aromatic crops suitable for Leh Ladakh.

He said that Leh is very suitable for some high-value aromatic crops like wild marigold, clary sage, Jammu monarda, mentha, etc. These plants can be grown in the land where there is less availability of water, rocky and degraded land. He encouraged local farmers to take up cultivation of aromatic plant through which they can earn good amount of income.

Zubair Ahmed, a Research scholar from CSIR-IIIM also briefed farmers about the various potential in this field.