“CSIR Aroma Mission

“CSIR Aroma Mission

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-II- Government Schemes

In news: “CSIR Aroma Mission: Transforming Lives Through S&T” Webinar was held on the eve of the 75th Independence Day.

• Jammu & Kashmir heralds the ‘Purple Revolution’ of India by taking a lead in the lavender cultivation in almost all the 20 districts of the Union Territory.

CSIR Aroma Mission

• The CSIR Aroma Mission is envisaged to bring transformative change in the aroma sector through desired interventions in the areas of agriculture, processing and product development for fuelling the growth of aroma industry and rural employment.
• The mission will promote the cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oils that are in great demand by aroma industry. 
• It is expected to enable Indian farmers and aroma industry to become global leaders in the production and export of some other essential oils on the pattern of menthol mint. 
• This is expected to provide substantial benefits to the farmers in achieving higher profits, utilization of waste lands and protection of their crops from wild and grazing animals.
• CSIR’s Aroma Mission is generating new avenues of self-livelihood and entrepreneurship and 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.
• Today, 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.

About Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) 

• Established in 1942, CSIR is the largest research and development (R&D) organisation in India. 
• It operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• CSIR is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology 
• CSIR has a pan-India presence and has a dynamic network of 38 national laboratories, 39 outreach centres, 3 Innovation Complexes and 5 units.
• CSIR covers a wide spectrum of streams – from radio and space physics, oceanography, geophysics, chemicals, drugs, genomics, biotechnology and nanotechnology to mining, aeronautics, instrumentation, environmental engineering and information technology.
• It provides significant technological intervention in many areas with regard to societal efforts which include the environment, health, drinking water, food, housing, energy, farm and non-farm sectors.

News Source:  PIB