Umaisar Gull Ganie
Anantnag, Mar 10: To increase farmers’ income and ensure that medicinal and aromatic plants are not limited to forests, the Agricultural Department, under the Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP), has established a Germplasm Bank (nursery) in Verinag belt of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, officials said on Monday.
“This first-of-its-kind nursery. It has over a lakh medicinal and aromatic plants. It is spread over five hectares of land, where rare and valuable herbal and aromatic plants are being cultivated,” said an official.
“These plants are to be distributed among farmers to promote their cultivation. Various medicines, cosmetics, and fragrances are made from these plants,” he said, adding, “The medicinal plants, previously, were found only in forests. Now these can be grown by farmers in their fields due to their high international value.”
Meanwhile, Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Anantnag, Aijaz Hussain Dar, said that the Germplasm Bank in Verinag is a new initiative under HADP, aimed at growing medicinal and aromatic plant material for farmers. “You know medicinal plants are found in forests, and commercial cultivation of these plants was not happening. Now, we have taken the initiative to grow them here and then distribute these among farmers,” he said.
“We have maintained the Germplasm of around one lakh medicinal and aromatic plants here, and 60,000 new aromatic plants have been transplanted,” he added.
The CAO said that the primary objective of growing aromatic and medicinal plants is to provide farmers with planting material under HADP so they can cultivate these crops in their own fields. “The net returns from medicinal and aromatic plants are very much higher compared to field and horticultural crops. Our aim is to increase farmers’ income. These steps are being taken for the welfare of the farming community,” he said.
