Tsewang Rigzin
LEH: In an endeavour to make Ladakhi farmers sustainable and fetch handsome income from their produces, the Department of Agriculture of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh on Wednesday displayed four varieties of locally produced beans at the LAHDC Secretariat which would be sold on no-profit no-loss basis.
Agriculture Department has already procured as many as 20 quintals of different varieties of beans from Ladakhi farmers at the rate of Rs 130 per kilogram and the beans are now for sale at the same price after packaging them by the department.
“Farmers lose interest in agriculture as it was not that profitable before. Steps like helping farmers to grow vegetables like beans would go a long way supporting farming in Ladakh,” MP Ladakh Thupstan Chhewang said, while lauding LAHDC for the initiative. Beans are not perishable items and rates for imported pulses are also very high, he added.
Chairman LAHDC, Leh Dr Sonam Dawa congratulated farmers and the Agriculture Department for the successful experiment this year.
Under the supervision of Executive Councillor for Agriculture Tsering Wangdus, LAHDC embarked up on this experiment on a trial basis, Dr. Dawa said.
“We will set up a supermarket like place from next year for all kinds of local produces by Ladakhi farmers,” Dr. Dawa committed while informing that LAHDC will support to scale up growing beans and also procure all beans produced by farmers through the Agriculture Department so that farmers don’t have to worry about market for their produces.
Executive Councillors Tsering Sangdup, Dorjay Motup, Tsering Wangdus and many other dignitaries visited the display of the products and lauded farmers and the Department of Agriculture. Chief Agriculture Officer, Leh, Tashi Tsetan was also present. Meanwhile MP Ladakh has committed Rs 25 lakh out of MP LAD to help LAHDC for the control of insects infesting agricultural products in the region. It is pertinent to mention here that 5th LAHDC had promised that as envisioned in the Ladakh 2025 – Vision Document, land based economy, which includes agriculture and its allied departments and livestock development, would be the top priority with a focus on organic produces. LAHDC has trying to make efforts to gradually move Ladakh towards a complete organic region after Sikkim.
