Aroma Mission

 Context 

Aroma Mission is generating new avenues of self-livelihood and entrepreneurship.

Aroma Mission

• It was launched in 2016 to boost the cultivation of plants like lavender which have aromatic medicinal properties through new technology developed by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).
• It is envisaged to bring transformative change in the aroma sector through desired interventions in the areas of agriculture, processing and product development.
•  It also seeks to provide technical and infrastructure support for distillation and value-addition to farmers/growers all over the country, apart from enabling effective buy-back mechanisms to assure remunerative prices to the farmers/growers.
• The objectives include

• Development of superior varieties and their agro-technologies and assessment of their suitability for specific agro-climatic regions.
• Value-addition of aromatic crops (High-end aroma chemicals and products) 
• Skill development activities
• Intellectual property generation, valuation and management
• Entrepreneurship development/Spin-offs
• Business development
• Making public aware of Mission activities and achievements using an appropriate interface.

• Benefits
  • It will promote the cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oils that are in great demand by the aroma industry.
  • It is expected to enable Indian farmers and the aroma industry to become global leaders in the production and export of some other essential oils on the pattern of menthol mint.
  • It is expected to provide substantial benefits to the farmers in achieving higher profits, utilization of wastelands and protection of their crops from a wild and grazing animal

• Achievements
  • CSIR has contributed significantly to the development, nurturing and positioning of the essential oil-based aroma industry in the country.
    •  This has led to the creation of an ecosystem benefitting the industry, farmers and next-generation entrepreneurs. 
  • It 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. 
    • 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.
  • Today, with CSIR’s Aroma Mission, important medicinal and aromatic plants are being cultivated in 6,000 hectares of land. 

Source: PIB