Kashmir Apple Farmers Turn to Lavender & Beekeeping for Extra Income

The initiative aims to enhance farm income, ecological sustainability, and reduce dependency on a single crop.

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine at its Field Station Bonera, Pulwama, organised a one-day workshop on "Integration of Lavender and Apiculture in Horticultural Production Systems," drawing enthusiastic participation from orchardists and farmers from different districts of Kashmir.

Speaking to ANI, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director of CSIR, said, "We developed an innovative model through which we integrate apple, orchard and lavender seed in an apiculture production system. The underlying idea of this innovative model is how we make apple production cheaper, and farmers can also have additional income from lavender based product. All together, these crop networks will maintain ecological sustainability."

Dr. Shahid Rasool, Principal Scientist of CSIR-IIIM, said, ''we are implementing the floriculture mission with the integration of apiculture with the help of CSIR. Today's workshop was specially conducted for the orchardists of Kashmir. We demonstrated the method for farmers and encouraged them to use the model."

The workshop focused on promoting crop diversification by integrating lavender cultivation and beekeeping within existing apple orchards to enhance farm income and ecological sustainability.

Lavender cultivation helps in an additional revenue source through essential oil production, supports pollinator activity, while beekeeping improves fruit set, overall orchard productivity, and honey production.

An Orchardist from Srinagar, Raja Mujtaba, said while speaking to ANI that he got to know so much about lavender flowers and benefit of their production. He said that the workshop raises awareness around the region and people will benefit from it in future.

Another farmer, from Baragram, Mohd Ashraf Dar, said, "In a traditional apple garden, we have space between the trees, so the remaining land is left with no use. But now we know that we can use the remaining land to grow lavender, which will boost the productivity and income."

Scientists and technical officers delivered practical sessions on scientific lavender cultivation practices, apiary management, pest and disease control, and value addition strategies.

Demonstrations were also conducted to showcase best practices in honey extraction and processing, along with guidance on market linkages and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Participants expressed keen interest in adopting the integrated model, acknowledging its potential to reduce dependency on a single crop, mitigate risks associated with climate variability, and create sustainable livelihood avenues.

The initiative forms part of broader efforts to strengthen resilient agro-ecosystems and promote innovative farming systems across the Kashmir Valley.

- ANI