Hi there,
We’ll try to discuss regarding subsistence (basic) or mini micro agriculture system (there couldn’t be such small system anywhere, correct me if i am wrong, plz?) which is peculiar to a region such as Ladakh.Located in the high altitude trans-Himalayan region where the agriculture season is for only five months for upper Ladakh and seven months for the lower Ladakh (with two cropping season).
The staple crop is ‘Yangma’, ‘Shirok’ or barley, wheat, pulses including local green pea ‘srTanma’ (small sized), ‘Nagrtan’ (black peas, big sized), “Kerze’ or lintle, ‘Tahwo’ (buck wheat) grown mostly as second crop in lower Ladakh considered very dismal crop in earlier times (during 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in the upper Ladakh has come out to have anti cancerous properties and fetches about Rs.100 per Kg un-think of in the past (and it has become popular after year 2000 onwards)?
The Nagrtan (black pea) too is considered very nutritious but its cultivation has almost gone off in Leh, Sabu and other vicinity villages around Leh in the Indus valley. The interested students and researchers could find reasons for this?
The present autonomous hill development council did initiated its focus on the cultivation of Tahwo (buck wheat) has it continued the momentum, I don’t know? In the international market this fetches much more. The post Covid pandemic times provides great opportunity for our farmers to produce organic vegetables and cereals and pulses; market is our own metros forget about export to begin with!
The barley and wheat fetches Rs70 or more per Kg, peas Rs. 60 per Kg in the market, one very important recent development had been the purchase of local wheat by the PDS (public distribution system) department and its grinding facilities and its further distribution as rations especially for the bpl (below poverty line, and antodaya category of recepients). Rationing has come to nil almost since last fifteen years or so but a very minimal persists in the villages and remote blocks.
The rate of production of barley has fallen; it has been replaced by production of potatoes, high breed green peas, mustard during last ten years or more. The potato seeds come from Lahoaul- Spiti especially the Surajmukhi variety which grows well in upper Ladakh;
the high breed green peas that fetches about Rs.60 right on the field the farmers just have to harvest it in several bags each day and everyone manages in matter of ten days to harvest their field? This is has become a trend in the recent past.
And the farmers have been growing more mustard as the refined oil prices have sky rocketed during the Covid pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 Rs, 180 per litre from Rs.90 per litre pre Covid pandemic times?
Besides the farmers have been growing all varieties of vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, capsicum, onions, cucumber, gout, carrots, spinach, tomatoes, beans, bringle etc. their size and quality are one of the best and these have been grown with minimal usage of chemical fertilizer almost no pesticide!
This is the current state of agriculture in our region indicating that farmers have really worked on their choice of crop cultivation as these are providing direct cash income. And farmers have gained immensely from reduced usage of barley for ‘Chang’ or local brew, which were prepared in much bulk then, now almost very minimal.
I cannot state about other villages as there, its prevalence is more and they say they cannot do without it especially during agriculture and marriage seasons? Besides there they also prepare Arak the distill version of the Chang which taste like vodka very strong! But overall the consumption of alcohol is still moderately okay in the rural areas then in urban.
There are few prestigious government scientific research institutions that have been working hard all these years to take Ladakh’s agriculture to a new level of development and sustainability thanks to them we have achieved the present level of improvement of overall agriculture progress!
High breed new variety of barley and wheat seeds have been developed which provide greater yield as per kanal then the indigenous variety? They are introducing new cash crops such as, water melon; mash melon and straw berries etc which is grown in poly tunnel trenches, garlic have successfully grown here now.
As Ladakh has been declared as a fully organic region there is great potential for its stagnated vegetable production market to find new markets in regions like Delhi metro, Jammu, Chandigarh and Srinagar.
Ladakh’s vegetables are the most tasty and nutritious; so as the horticulture produce be it apple, apricot, sea buckthorn berry juices and jams etc. bye for now!