Bhaderwah, Nov 22: In a concerted effort to promote lavender cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bhaderwah region and encourage farmers to explore value addition in aromatic crops, the State Bank of India (SBI) organised a Farmers’ Meet at the Lal-Ded Auditorium of Bhaderwah Campus on Wednesday.
The day-long gathering saw the active participation of 150 lavender cultivators, with the primary objective of educating progressive farmers on various government credit linkage policies for the comprehensive development of the agriculture sector, particularly in lavender farming.
Ravinder Kumar, Deputy General Manager (DGM) at SBI, and the chief guest for the event, highlighted Bhaderwah’s global recognition as a leading region for cultivating exotic lavender, often referred to as the “Capital of Lavender” in India.
“We at SBI aspire to contribute to the holistic development of farmers engaged in the cultivation and value addition of aromatic plants by disseminating information about our diverse credit linkage policies,” stated Ravinder Kumar Gupta, DGM SBI.
Key speakers at the event included Ravindra Kumar Gupta, Deputy General Manager, J&K Module; Rajeev Chhabra, Regional Manager, RBO Jammu; Deepak Sharma, Chief Manager, SBI Regional Office Jammu; and Sunny Bhat, Chief Manager, SBI Regional Office Jammu.
During the session, farmers expressed their gratitude to SBI authorities for extending support and guidance, emphasising the importance of such initiatives in enhancing lavender cultivation and associated value-added practices.