JAMMU, Mar 20: Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency of Jammu and Kashmir has given the Indian youth a new StartUp option of Lavender and is fast emerging as an Agri StartUp hub, said Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh here today.
Interacting with youth delegations during the campaign trail, Dr Jitendra Singh recalled the Republic Day tableau at Kartavya Path New Delhi on 26 January depicting lavender farms of Bhaderwah which is a testimony of Bhaderwah and J&K being nationally hailed as the birthplace of “Purple Revolution”, now emulated in other Himalayan States like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh as well as Nagaland.
He said, the foundation of this Agri StartUp hub has been laid in the picturesque Bhaderwah town of district Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, where cultivation of lavender has been taken up on a large scale.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, same lavender farming has now picked up in other parts of the constituency as well including upper reaches of Billawar , Ramnagar areas.
He recalled that PM Narendra Modi had in detail explained this success story in farming from district Doda of J&K in his “ Mann Ki Baat” broadcast and told the listeners about the small town of Bhaderwah where this experiment had been carried out as part of Aroma Mission by Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt of India.
This endeavour provides India an alternate source to propel its economy, Dr Jitendra Singh stated.
Over 3000 flourishing lavender entrepreneurs from Bhaderwah have shown the youth of India a new and lucrative avenue of StartUp through agriculture which is an exclusive domain of this country and will contribute value addition to India's future economic growth and realisation of PM Narendra Modi's vision of ” Vikriti Bharat” by 2047, he said.
The Minister informed that more than three thousand youth of J&K are engaged in this mission which has emerged as an avenue of self-employment as these youngsters are earning in lakhs.
Dr Jitendra Singh underscored that this has been achieved due to the personal efforts of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, and the government's measures to provide all possible support, be it imparting training to the youth or ensuring industry linkages for lavender products or provision of other necessary logistical aid, to spur this revolution. Lavender-made products are sold in thousands in States like Maharashtra, fetching rich revenue for the producers, he informed.
The Minister recalled that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who gave a clarion call of Start up India, Stand Up India from the ramparts of historic Red Fort. Following the Prime Minister's call, people joined the movement. As a result, the number of start-ups has now gone past 1.25 lakh from a mere 350 existing at that time, thereby placing India at number three spot in this field in the world, Dr Jitendra Singh informed.
The Union Minister urged the youth to join the agri start-up ecosystem so that they can contribute to making value addition to the economy, and help in realising the national goal of making India a number one economy in the next 25 years of Amrit Kaal.
Calling for action, Dr Jitendra Singh said the areas which are either unexplored or under-explored hold the potential of making value addition to the economy, adding that the role of Jammu and Kashmir- pioneered purple revolution will be of critical importance to make India a developed nation by 2047.
