A virtual conference on Ladakh: AgriHort at the CII Agro & Food Tech 2020 was convened on October 21. The session was live-streamed on Jammu links and was attended by more than 1000 participants. 

R K Mathur, Lieutenant Governor said, “Entire Ladakh would turn to organic farming by 2025.” He emphasized to focus on a far more organized approach to take Ladakh’s Agri- Horticulture sector to newer heights. 

He further highlighted the requirement of greenhouses to make Ladakh self-reliant in food and vegetables. 

R K Mathur also appreciated the efforts of CII for organizing such platforms and asked for the inputs to develop the Agri- Horticulture sector for the holistic development of Ladakh. 

Nikhil Sawhney, Chairman, CII Northern Region & Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Triveni Turbines Ltd highlighted the importance of the horticulture and agriculture sector in the economic development of Ladakh. He talked about the necessity of value addition for the horticulture produce of Ladakh. 

Dr. Ramesh Mittal, Director, National Institute of Agriculture and Marketing in his address illustrated the need for branding and Marketing Ladakh Horticulture produce. He said that the tough terrain produce by Ladakh’s region has great qualities and farmers should build the core competency of the product which will accelerate the economic growth of Ladakh. 

Tarvinder Singh, Director, Agriculture and Horticulture, UT of Ladakh articulated the initiatives of the government to encourage the expansion of the sector. While, Anjul Manchanda, Managing Director, Arctic Refrigeration Pvt. Ltd talked about the need for developing Cold Chain Infrastructure due to the tough terrain of the region.  

Nawang Thinles, Chairman, CII Ladakh stated that the involvement of the population is more in Agriculture and Horticulture activities and hence there is a need to increase productivity, quality and bring in technologies for transforming value chains of this sector.   

In the end, Stanzin Chosphel, Vice- Chairman, CII Ladakh expressed the need to organize such sessions for creating awareness among farmers about the latest technologies and strategies to compete with other states.