JK to become testing ground for medicinal plants
100 hectares to be covered in first phase
Over 100 hectares of land will be covered in Jammu and Kashmir during the first phase of implementation of Arogaya Gram Yojana for cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. This will be done with active participation of farmers.
Stating this in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Y S Chowdary, said that Rs 25 crore will be spent by the Centre on this project. “In addition, it will also provide technical support to the state through a team of CSIR scientists,” he said.
He said this is a pilot project and its expansion to other states will depend on its success in J&K.
The scheme aimed at providing alternative farming avenues to peasants, has three major objectives: Field demonstration of region specific superior genotypes of CSIR Research and Development work on medicinal and aromatic plants on higher scale in the entire J&K region. It also envisages skill development, technology transfer and employment generation through CSIR technology. The third aspect of the scheme is to provide proven and tested business models based on CSIR-MAPs technology. Subsequently, these models would be adopted by people.
Meanwhile, the Centre is considering granting deemed-to-be university status to the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies at Choglamsar, Leh in Ladakh region. A request in this regard has been received from the state government by HRD ministry.
