Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 29: In a mesmerizing showcase of agricultural diversification, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, at present threw open the CSIR Tulip Fest-2026 to the general public at its Field Station Bonera in Pulwama.
A spokesperson stated the station, identified for pursuing breakthrough analysis and applied sciences in medicinal and fragrant crops, has launched a brand new side to its analysis and expertise deployment endeavours underneath the flagship CSIR Floriculture Mission, launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology to strengthen the industrial floriculture panorama in the area.
Under a devoted vertical of the Mission for producing indigenous, the spokesperson stated high-quality germplasm for industrial floricultural cultivars, the institute has made vital progress over the previous 5 years, significantly in the indigenization of tulip bulb manufacturing.
He stated leveraging the beneficial agro-climatic circumstances of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in the Kashmir Valley, the Field Station at present hosts round 1.3 lakh blooming tulips, attracting 1000’s of tourists, together with college students, influencers, environmentalists and native residents. “The initiative marks a major milestone under the CSIR Floriculture Mission and builds upon a pilot experiment initiated four years ago. Preliminary research on tulip bulb germination and multiplication has yielded promising results, laying the groundwork for large-scale local production,” he stated.
Addressing the inaugural operate, Director CSIR-IIIM Jammu, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, highlighted the institute’s dedication to offering high-quality planting materials to farmers, thereby strengthening their financial prospects and reworking the area’s agrarian ecosystem.
While appreciating the efforts of researchers concerned in the Floriculture Mission, he emphasised that scientific interventions at the station are enjoying an important position in enabling import substitution of tulip bulbs, including that the Mission is being efficiently applied underneath the steerage of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of Science and Technology.