Lieutenant Governor, Radha Krishna Mathur discussed roles and functioning of both the Hill Councils, Leh and Kargil with the CEC’s Gyal P. Wangyal and Feroz Ahmed Khan on July 4.

Lieutenant Governor emphasized on enhancing the abilities of both the Hill Council to fully utilize their budget and deliver greater benefits to the people of Ladakh.

He also launched the Mission Organic Development Initiative (M.O.D.I) of Ladakh and Ladakh Greenhouse Project aiming to steer Ladakh on a sustainable path.

Initiated by Hill Council, Leh in 2019, Mission Organic Development Initiative is a Special Development Project budgeted at ₹ 500 crore to introduce organic farming into the mainstream agricultural production system. The project is proposed to be implemented in three phases in different blocks of Leh and Kargil districts.

In the first phase, 66 villages of Leh and Kargil districts will be converted into organic villages by the end of the financial year 2020, while 85 villages will achieve certification by 2023. The final phase of M.O.D.I will include the conversion of 90 villages as organic by 2025.  

R K Mathur said, “By converting Ladakh into an organic state, we will be able to achieve Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a Carbon Neutral Ladakh.” He said that establishing a proper supply chain and infrastructure to process and market the product is of utmost importance.

Other than transforming agriculture in Ladakh into a sustainable occupation, M.O.D.I will enable farmers to realize 30% to 40 % of additional income by leveraging the demand of the organic market. 

Ladakh Greenhouse Project was also launched to improve vegetable availability in Ladakh through deep winter greenhouse farming. A result of six years of research and development, the greenhouse using polycarbonate as the covering material, has been developed by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR). In comparison to traditional greenhouses, the polycarbonate greenhouse is found to be warmer, requires lower maintenance, can withstand snow load, and has a shelf life of 20 – 25 years. Most importantly, these greenhouses can be cultivated round the year.

Lauding the initiative, R K Mathur stated that all households must be able to benefit from these greenhouses and suggested construction in village clusters to support the value chain and derive commercial advantage.

The project has been allotted a budget of₹ 76.44 crore and is targeting the installation of 1676 greenhouses over two years in Leh and Kargil districts. Hill Council, Leh, and Kargil will select beneficiaries for implementation for both the projects.