New Delhi, April 20: The Union Ministry of Science and Technology’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)’s Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR-CLRI), Chennai, has taken up a programme to promote skill and entrepreneurship in the leather sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
The programme is part of an effort to improve the socio-economic conditions, particularly in the rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials from CSIR-CLRI would make presentations on the programme at the mega expo being organised in Palli Panchayat of Samba district in Jammu, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the nation-wide National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations on April 24.
The stalls to be put up by CSIR would also feature an e-Tractor by the Council’s Durgapur-based Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CMERI) and present the cutting-edge research being conducted on high-value medicinal plants such as Heeng, Saffron and Dalchini at its Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT) situated at Palampur in Himachal Pradesh.
Among other things, scientists from the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP) would make live demonstrations of CSIR’s aroma mission.
The Aroma mission aims to catalyse rural empowerment through the cultivation, value addition and marketing of aromatic plants.
The 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.
The segment is maturing, and there is a global connection in a significant manner, providing newer opportunities that are associated, however, with several challenges. The industry needs to reposition itself in this important segment. CSIR proposed to contribute to the purpose in a mission mode. CSIR Aroma Mission was accordingly conceptualised.
CSIR-CIMAP is the nodal laboratory. The participating laboratories are CSIR-IHBT, CSIR-NBRI, CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, and CSIR-North-East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST), Jorhat.
The Mission is envisaged to bring transformative change in the Aroma sector through interventions in the areas of agriculture, processing, and product development to fuel the growth of the Aroma industry and rural employment. It promotes 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 essential oils on the pattern of menthol mint. This is expected to provide substantial benefits to the farmers in achieving higher profits, utilising wastelands, and protecting their crops from wild and grazing animals. An additional area of 5,500 hectares is expected to be brought under the cultivation of these crops.
An additional 700 tonnes of essential oil is expected to be produced annually for perfumery, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. (India Science Wire)
