Department of Agriculture, UT Ladakh has been awarded the Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration (Category: Innovation State) for the Ladakh Greenhouse project.

The award was presented by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi at a function held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on April 21, on the occasion of Civil Services Day.
 
Secretary (Agriculture), UT Ladakh, Ravinder Kumar has received the award on behalf of the Department, which consists of a trophy, citation and a cash award of ₹ 20 lakh for the implementation of the project. The Ladakh Greenhouse technology was developed by the DIHAR (DRDO) Leh and the technology was transferred to the Department of Agriculture UT Ladakh in 2019. Thereafter, it was implemented by the Agriculture Department in Leh and Kargil districts. 

The Ladakh Green House Project was selected amongst 2253 nominations, received under different categories, after clearing three stages of scrutiny and verification by the experts at various levels. A film on the innovative Ladakh Green House project was also screened before the presentation of the award. An exhibition was also held for the selected innovations and projects.
 
Tashi Tsetan, Chief Agriculture Officer Leh, Dr Tsering Stobdan, Senior Scientist, DRDO, DIHAR, Leh, and Dr. Stanzin Thakchos, OSD were present.

Secretary Agriculture appreciated the role of officials of the Agriculture Department and DIHAR (DRDO) Leh for their hard work, dedication and consistent support. He also congratulated the whole farmer community for adopting the new technology.

Farmers in Ladakh have already started to reap the benefit of the innovative Ladakh Greenhouse project. 315 greenhouses have already been completed and 1000 such greenhouses will be completed by Dec 2022 with 75% financial assistance from the Agriculture Department in Leh and Kargil. This project would help in meeting winter vegetable shortage and meeting micronutrient deficiency in the population.
 
This project is solar passive, and organic and uses water conservation techniques. Apart from increasing profit for farmers, it would help in giving new self-employment opportunities to young Agri- entrepreneurs. Ladakh greenhouse would be a step towards Carbon Neutral Ladakh as envisioned by the Prime Minister of India.
 
The Department of Agriculture, UT Ladakh is envisaging taking the Ladakh Greenhouse Project on a large commercial scale by supporting the interested and emerging agri-entrepreneurs in the days to come in corroboration with project MODI of converting UT of Ladakh into an organic state by 2025.