Even though products made of pashmina wool command envious prices the world over, its trade in the Valley has worn thin over the years owing to government neglect and militancy.
At 50 tonnes, India?s yield constitutes a mere one per cent of the world?s pashmina production. Of this, 40 tonnes are derived from the 1.6 lakh pashmina goats found in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Finally, however, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has sanctioned a Rs 9.5-crore project to Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) to boost the production of pashmina wool.
Called ?A value chain on enhanced productivity and profitability of pashmina fiber yield, the project is a national innovation project (NIP).
?The aim of the project is to push the production beyond one lakh kilograms in the coming years. A roadmap to involve more scientists, villagers who rear the pashmina goats and those associated with shawl industry has been prepared,? said Prof Anwar Alam, former vice-chancellor, SKUAST. ?Through our new project, scientists of the university will concentrate on the reasons that cause a high degree of inbreeding, poor husbandry practices, high kid motility and inadequate shelters for the goats that result in poor fibre yield,? added Alam.
Of the total 15,000 metric tonnes produced in the world, China produces 70 per cent followed by Mongolia with 20 per cent. ?Our yield is very low compared to other pashmina producing countries,? said Prof Alam.
?Our farmers hardly shear 100 to 250 grams of pashmina wool from a single goat, while in other countries the farmers produce around 700 -900 grams of wool per goat.?
Pashmina is derived from Changthangi and Chegu goat breeds. While Changthangi is found in Ladakh , around 6,000 goats of the Chegu breed are found in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Prof Alam said after a global ban on Shahtoosh, wool derived from the hair of an endangered Tibetan antelope, people have started relying on the Pashmina wool. ?As of now, around 35,000 to 45,000 people are associated with the Pashmina wool production.”
At the same time, people in Ladakh are showing less inclination towards the breeding of Changthangi goats and have forayed into the more lucrative option of the tourism sector.
While the number of goats have gone down from two lakh to 1.5 over the years, J&K?s figure of 40 tonnes of pashmina, too, has been stagnant for the last five years.
Sarfaraz Wani, chief scientist, Livestock Products Technology Division, SKUAST, said they have already started work to raise production in Ladakh region.
?We are aiming to increase the production of pashmina by using a high degree of upgrading, improving nutrition by controlling motility rates, modern harvesting techniques and de-hairing techniques,? he said.
Abdul Hamid Punjabi, a prominent pashmina shawl manufacturer and exporter, said it was a drawback that the Valley’s pashmina shawl industry is totally dependent on the wool derived from pashmina goats of Ladakh. ?As of now, pashmina goats are found only in Nyoma block in Ladakh. Under the central project, the goats will be reared at the non-traditional areas of Nobra, Drass, Panikher, Bod Kharboo areas. These areas too have a perfect climate where pashmina goats can survive and flourish.?
He said that while the fiber comes from Ladakh, it is spun into world-class shawls in Srinagar .
?The SKUAST under the NIP project has provided new spinning wheels to 100 women in the Valley that has increased the production,? said Punjabi.