Grown as a wild bush in Ladakh, seabuck thorn is slowly bringing prosperity in the mountainous region. Its berries and leaves are being whipped up into different varieties of juices, jams and tea.
A number of self-help groups in the region, comprising mostly school dropouts and illiterate women, are engaged in collecting berries and leaves of seabuck thorn.
Of late, many villagers have begun growing this wild plant in their backyard and orchards. Local entrepreneurs, too, have started exporting the pulp of seabuck thorn.
Chief Executive, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Rigzin Spalbar said the industry, which is still in its infancy in the region, has huge potential.
?It is only for the past few years that the people of this cold region are reaping benefits from the wild bush.? ?People have set up small plants where pulp from seabuck thorn is being extracted from berries to produce juice and jams. However, we still have a long way to go.?
Spalbar said the Centre has also approved of a project for growing seabuck thorn in an organised manner. ?We are producing only three to four products from the seabuck thorn. In neighbouring China , almost 400 products are made from the wild bush.?
He said research is being carried out to develop different products from the wild bush.
Director horticulture, Ghulam Hassan Shah, too, said: ?Since no other crop is grown in Ladakh, a survey is being carried out to grow the seabuck thorn in an organised manner.?
He said the horticulture department, which earlier focused only on apricots, is set to exploit berries as a horticulture product. ?We have also started teaching villagers how to harvest berries in a proper way.? Mohammad Saleem Mir, who teaches at Sher?e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology (SKUAST) and hails from the Kargil town of Ladakh , said the products of seabuck thorn are being exported to different states by private entrepreneurs.
Mir said SKUAST will soon be taking up a programme in which villagers will be taught how to cultivate berries in their orchards. ?The plant is now grown in the wild near the streams everywhere in the region. We are looking at growing it in orchards.? He said besides its economical value, the seabuck thorn can also combat global warming. ?This plant also can bind the soil and, therefore, can be used to prevent land sliding in the region.?