When Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated Jammu and Kashmir’s first Lavender Festival in Ganderbal on Thursday, the hundreds of farmers who attended offered a glimpse of a quiet agricultural transformation underway in the Union Territory. Once a niche crop promoted under a government scheme, lavender has emerged as a profitable alternative to conventional farming, boosting incomes and creating new opportunities for rural entrepreneurship.“The returns are many times higher than those from conventional crops like maize,” said Mohammad Ashraf, a lavender cultivator from Baramulla.The shiftThe shift towards lavender cultivation began under the Union government’s Aroma Mission, implemented by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), several years ago. What started as a niche initiative has since evolved into a growing commercial enterprise, with farmers increasingly adopting the crop due to its strong market demand and value-added potential.The essential oil extracted from lavender flowers is widely used in perfumes, soaps, cosmetics, wellness products and pharmaceuticals preparations, making it one of the most commercially valuable aromatic crops. Farmers also earn additional income by selling dried flowers.“Farmers also sell dried flowers, which fetch better prices than traditional crops,” said Touqeer Ahmad, another farmer, adding that one kilogram of dried flowers sells between ₹1,000 and ₹1,500.Lavender cultivation has steadily expanded across districts including Doda, Ramban, Udhampur, Anantnag, Pulwama and Ganderbal, with around 1,200 hectares now under cultivation.A cluster based approachUnder the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), the government is promoting the crop through a cluster-based approach by strengthening nursery development, processing facilities, market linkages and entrepreneurship.Officials said 14 lavender clusters covering nearly 75 hectares have been operationalised, bringing together 1,105 registered farmers. The initiative also encourages formation of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to facilitate collective procurement, value addition, branding and marketing, helping growers secure better returns.“A Centre of Excellence for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants has been established at Benhama in Ganderbal”, officials said. They added that the facility is aimed at supporting quality planting material, scientific cultivation practices, training, processing support and value-chain development for aromatic crops.Published on June 19, 2026