The Ladakh union territory (UT) administration organized a meeting of berry sellers and buyers in Ladakh where participants from the various states discussed the prevailing scenario of seabuckthorn market.
Organized under the initiative of Commissioner and Secretary, Industries and Commerce department, Saugat Biswas, who chaired the meeting, discussed in detail, the products manufactured by the buyers, interventions required for improving the chain; improving production quantity and quality and opening opportunities for the local entrepreneurs in the chain.
The seabuckthorn products were in high demand within and outside the country. The Ladakh stall at New Delhi’s Pragti Maidan drew large crowds who took interest in the berry products.
Buyers from the various parts of the country attended the meeting virtually. The buyers spoke about their line of businesses using seabuckthorn pulp, seeds, and leaves viz juices, tea, cosmetic items, medicinal purposes etc, and highlighted that seabuckthorn grown in Ladakh has an edge in the national and global market due to the high content of Omega-7 and that its market is growing globally.
For a smoother supply chain and to increase production, they requested interventions in areas of regulated pricing, loss of produce due to inefficient harvesting techniques, lack of primary processing, and use of preservatives, etc.
Biswas said that the administration was dedicated to the development of seabuckthorn and informed that a number of steps have been taken and many were in the pipeline.
He also highlighted that the UT administration was developing incubation centres for seabuckthorn processing, subsidizing procurement and setting up cold-chain mechanisms, cold storages, and various incentives under the upcoming industrial policies.
Deliberations were held on subjects like advanced harvesting tools available in the market, packaging and processing units, alternate preservative options and the possibility of certification of Seabuckthorn products as organic.
Sellers and entrepreneurs from Leh and Kargil had an intense discussion over various topics with the buyers such as dehydrated pulp supply, high-value leaves for processed products and medicinal usage, organic certification, price regulation, and price forecasting, aseptic packaging, fermentation processing, standardization of pulping and certification, nutraceutical testing, commercial utilization of by-products and awareness creation.
In addition to the buyers and sellers, the meet was attended by the Director, Industries & Commerce department of Ladakh, District Forest Officers, General managers of DIC, SPMY PMFME, Industries Promotion Officers, and Officers from the Cooperative department.