CSIR-Aroma Mission successfully launched in Sonitpur district

A Correspondent

Tezpur, May 28: In what can be described as a significant development in the field of cultivation of aromatic crops, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India, has launched a project called Aroma Mission that is expected to help the farmers in boosting their income through cultivation of aromatic crops like lemon grass, citronella, rose, geranium and vetiver. The project was launched at Thelamara village in Sonitpur district covering more than 12 acres of land in October, 2017 by Dr. Girish Sahni, Director General, CSIR, and Prof. Anil Kumar Tripathi, Director, CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow.

The project was initiated for doubling the farmers’ income from their cultivation using the available infrastructure. The project was launched following a survey and an awareness programme at village Thelamara and the harvesting and distillation process was carried out successfully from May 23 to May 28 using a field distillation unit installed under CSIRs Aroma Mission project.

The current market value of the product, i.e., lemongrass and citronella oil, is Rs 1,100-Rs 1,200 per kg. The CSIR-CIMAP has also entered into collaborations with leading industries and manufacturers of fragrance for marketing with an objective of benefiting the farmers. The project was monitored by Dr. Alok Kalra, Principal Investigator, Aroma Mission and Dr. RK Srivastava, Nodal Officer for NER, with technical and logistic support from some faculty members of Tezpur University. It is projected that the mission will cover more areas in the region in coming years.