IIPR regional centre to be set up in Himachal
This was decided at a meeting chaired by Vice- Chancellor of the varsity, Professor Harinder Kumar Chaudhary, which was attended by Dr NP Singh, Director, IIPR, and others
Lieutenant Governor of UT of Ladakh, RK Mathur on Wednesday stressed the need to form a regulatory framework to standardize the procedure for management of seabuckthorn that being a wild plant has become a booster of economy of the cold desert region.
Mathur convened a meeting of top officers to discuss means and measures for development and value addition of seabuckthorn industry in Ladakh.
The meeting deliberated upon the ways and means to develop a sustainable development strategy.
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Asserting that seabuckthorn is a potential large GDP contributor as well as a means of employment generation, Mathur stressed the need to form a regulatory framework to standardize the procedure for the management of the plant.
“Latest and reliable statistics need to be acquired through scientific means to figure out the present availability and growth potential of Ladakh’s seabuckthorn” stated Mathur, instructing the departments to gather present land area under plantation, present harvesting data and potential new areas, etc.
Further, he instructed the departments to set an ambitious target to increase the seabuckthorn harvest to 2000 metric tons against the present harvest quantity of 600 metric tons. He instructed the departments to procure world-class machinery for harvesting, processing and packaging to achieve international standards while also investing in expert scientific assistance.
The horticulture department was directed to utilize around one hectare of land to initiate a model sea buckthorn plantation and to set up a testing lab for Seabuckthorn Research & Development.
Mathur directed the Forest Department to impart training to the local youths on the standard process of plantation, harvesting, drying and storage of the product and stated that the efforts should be to maximize employment generation in the complete value chain viz plantation, harvesting, processing products and their marketing.
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