LEH: The Indian Army is painting the snow-covered Himalayas in its chivalrous green colour, thanks to the army’s green revolution initiatives in Ladakh; which has turned into a confidence building measure with the locals.
Recently, the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) at its high-altitude laboratory in Leh, created a world record by growing more than 101 varieties of vegetables. Earlier, farmers were able to grow only four to five types of vegetables. The laboratory is now aiming to set up greenhouses at an altitude of 15,000 feet to ensure round the year production of vegetables and fruits, a feat unthinkable a few years ago. This will also meet fresh food requirement of Indian troops during the harsh winter season.
Close to 20,000 farmers in Ladakh have taken to vegetable, fruit and poultry farming, which was not possible earlier due to extreme climate conditions; the credit goes to the advanced technologies developed by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) at Leh, the world’s highest agro-animal laboratory. The farmers have now formed a cooperative society and their production is directly procured by the Indian Army. The vegetable supply in ration has gone up from less than 10 varieties to at least 28 now. The region is witnessing a new era of cooperation between the locals and army as both are meeting the needs of each other. Local farmers have been providing 50 per cent of the fresh food requirements of soldiers deployed in the region, including the ones at Siachin Glacier. Few years ago, ration and vegetable used to be airlifted from Chandigarh and a good percentage of it would perish in transportation.
Buoyed by the success of its agro-farming techniques, DIHAR is now in the process of using greenhouse technology so that supply of green vegetables can be ensured to soldiers during harsh winter conditions when temperature falls below minus 30 degrees Celsius. DIHAR, with a humble budget of `11 crore annually, is helping farmers set up greenhouse and grow some leafy vegetables during winter season.
“I have been working with DIHAR for the last two years. Earlier, I only used to grow potatoes and turnip, but now I can grow capsicum, radish, cauliflower, green chili, lemon, spinach, water melon, broccoli and many other vegetables using their technology,” said Palmo, a farmer at Partapur, some 150 km from Siachin Base Camp. She is also doing poultry farming and has been able to earn somewhere between `1000-2000 on daily basis during summer season.
DIHAR lab has established a hatchery in the campus and provides one-day old chicks to farmers for rearing them for meat and egg. Earlier, chicks used to be brought from Chandigarh as egg hatching is not possible in Ladakh’s climatic conditions. “Meeting fresh food requirement of the soldiers is a major challenge in cold desert conditions and we along with local farmers have been making efforts to provide them with some fresh stuff in extreme weather conditions as during winters they only get to eat tinned food,” said DIHAR Director RB Srivastava.
DIHAR has also transferred some of its technologies to local entrepreneurs for large scale production and even big companies like Dabur, so that it can generate employment and benefit the local population.
Srivastava feels it is not just appetite, but having green veggies on a soldier’s plate do have a psychological impact on their minds. “I always remember the words of an Army Commander deployed here sometime back, that his jawan would happily choose a green chilli over `1,000 currency note,” he added.
Green Revolution
DIHAR made a world record by growing 101 varieties of vegetables
It is the world’s highest agro-animal laboratory
Runs on an annual budget of `11 crores, with a team of 13 scientists
DIHAR’s technology has benefitted 20,000 farmers in Ladakh
Works in the field of agro-technology, biomedical, material and engineering sciences
Helping to meet the fresh food requirement of Indian soldiers