Lavender lattes, mocktails, soaps… the flower is perfuming Jammu’s Bhaderwah town in multiple ways
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.
“My company was made out of lavender,” says Touqeer Ahmed, managing director of JK Aroma. What began as a small lavender patch eventually grew into a business empire. Founded in 2017, JK Aroma today sells over 25 value-added products—soaps, oils, perfumes, tea, incense sticks and more—through outlets in Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and online platforms. “Over 15 people work with me directly on lavender, and 2,500-3,000 are connected through the raw material supply chain across Chenab valley,” he says.
Arjun Raina, 23, runs RidAyu Botanics, a startup also rooted in lavender. “We began with farming, and then launched the business,” says Raina. “Last year, our turnover was around Rs65 lakh.” His company now connects with about 1,000 farmers and has recently gone digital with its own website.
“The entrepreneurs of Bhaderwah have busted the myth that startups are limited to information technology or require foreign degrees,” says Jitendra Singh, Union minister of state (independent charge) for science and technology, “Our youth, in collaboration with CSIR-IIIM, have shown how passion, perseverance, and learning can build sustainable agriculture-based ventures.” In June, Singh, who is also an MP from Udhampur, Jammu, inaugurated Bhaderwah’s Lavender Festival.
Zabeer Ahmed, director of CSIR-IIIM, credits the transformation to science-backed support. “Initially, farmers were reluctant. Now, they are sending people to metros to understand markets better,” he says.
CSIR-IIIM has provided the planting material, distillation facilities, and guidance on value addition and quality control. “We have set up 15 distillation units in the region and 55 across J&K. Farmers can access our value addition lab in Jammu, where they are trained to make soaps, perfumes, diffusers and even incense sticks using residual material from distillation,” say Ahmed.
Despite the success, hurdles remain. “The price of lavender oil has dipped due to the influx of cheaper, lower-quality imports,” says Ahmed. With no minimum support price in place, many farmers are hesitant to invest. “Last year, the region distilled only 125 litres of oil because prices were low, although dried lavender flowers still found a market,” he says.
One of the early adopters, Bharat Bhushan, 48, is a local icon. With lavender oil prices under pressure, Bhushan began creating his own range of products. “We wanted to do something new,” he says. The Army helped—offering machinery and even promoting their products through canteens.
Lavender’s success has also sparked a social shift, drawing young people back to their roots. Raina points out friends helping at his stall—a hotel management graduate is experimenting with lavender lattes and mocktails; another is exploring lavender-infused embroidery, and someone is even pickling it.
As Minister Jitendra Singh puts it, “Lavender has given Bhaderwah a national identity. This is a new paradigm—a rural, agriculture-based startup revolution that is both scalable and sustainable.” To dispel the myth that startups are only for the young, he announced that next year’s festival will showcase entrepreneurs aged 60 and above.
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