IIIM kick-started Tulip Plantation at its Field Station Pulwama

PULWAMA: CSIR - Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Jammu Jammu under the aegis of Union Ministry of Science and Technology, under the flagship Mission on Floriculture today kick started its annual Tulip plantation at its Field Station Bonera Pulwama. Under the Mission CSIR-IIIM has initiated tulip cultivation at Field Station Bonera since year 2022 with the primary objectives of indigenizing tulip bulb production, developing agro-technological protocols and expanding crop cultivation.

Dr Zabeer Ahmed Director CSIR-IIIM, who inaugurated the plantation while interacting with media, said that pursuant to the Hon’ble  Prime Ministers clarion call for self reliant India and with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, CSIR Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu is implementing the pan India CSIR Floriculture Mission envisioned by Dr Jitendra Singh Hon’ble Union Minister for Science and Technology and Vice President CSIR.

He further added, that the initiative marks a significant step toward positioning Jammu and Kashmir as a hub for tulip bulb production in future, aiming to shift India from an import dependent consumer to a self sufficient producer. Under the flagship Mission the Institute has achieved remarkable achievements since 2021 in strengthening the commercial Floriculture sector in the region and empowering the farmers through production of high value cut, bulbous and other region specific ornamental crops, he added.

Concurrent to the event, the Institute at its Field Station Bonera Pulwama organized a workshopon advanced approaches forintegrated apiculture, commercial floriculture and ornamental crop production systems. The programme designed to disseminate advance scientific knowledge, improve agri-entrepreneurial competenciesis expected to enhance the technological readiness of students, farmers and aspiring agri-entrepreneurs in apiculture and floriculture value chains. The participants of the workshop that included 120 students from multiple academic institutions and 40 apiculture farmers of South Kashmir, were given intensive training in evidencedriven apiculture, including honey bee colony dynamics,nutritional supplementation strategies and the application of integrated pest, pathogen and winter management strategieswithin apiary systems.

Dr Shahid Rasool, Principal Scientist and Scientist Incharge of the Field Station informed that the training modules encompassed the full continuum of modern ornamental floricuture ranging from propagation physiology, phenological modelling and controlledenvironment cultivation to postharvest physiology, supply chain optimizationand marketdriven varietal selection. Participants were exposed to advanced cultivation methodologies for cut flowers, bulbous ornamentals and protected floriculture systems, alongside emerging domains such as urban floriculture, vertical greening technologiesand landscape architectural design using sustainable ornamental plant palettes.

The programme integratedhands-on demonstrations, including precision fertigation, microclimate modulation techniques and the use of sensorbased monitoring tools for improving crop performance and environmental resilience. Subject matter experts delivered scientific lectures on advanced approaches for ornamental crop improvement, conservation of wild MAPs and ornamental germplasm, adaptive cultivation under climate variability and biotechnological interventions for quality enhancement and stress tolerance, Dr Rasool added.

The workshop reaffirms CSIR-IIIM’s commitment to translational research, rural livelihood enhancement and the strengthening of India’s scientific and commercial footprint in the global floriculture and apiculture sectors. By advancing indigenous technologies and fostering an innovationoriented ecosystem, the Institute aims to catalyse sustainable, knowledgedriven growth in highvalue floriculture.