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Purple revolution

September 14, 2025

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THE WEEK India

How lavender gave a Jammu town a new identity

- BY SHUBHANGI SHAH

Purple revolution

BHADERWAH, A PICTURESQUE town in Jammu's Doda district, is awash in purple. The scent of lavender fills the air. What began as an experiment has grown into an economic transformation, as farmers-turned entrepreneurs ride the wave of lavender's growing popularity.

The shift began in 2016, when the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, introduced lavender cultivation in Bhaderwah, nestled in the Chenab valley, under the Centre's Aroma Mission. The results were dramatic: farmers began earning three to four times more than they did from traditional crops like maize. But the transformation did not stop there.

Bhaderwah is now buzzing with entrepreneurial energy, with cultivators launching startups built on lavender's growing popularity.

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