The lush green landscape and the peasants working in their fields of Chandigarh – where I was studying – always made me think of home.
If Punjab had its vast plains, we had the cold mountains. My village was ensconced in those mountains.
One question always intrigued me – why can’t we produce vegetables and fruits like other parts of the country?
After completing my studies, I returned to Leh to work at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir – India’s high altitude research institute.
People in Nyoma village are mostly shepherds rearing cattle over the vast brownish plains amidst the mountains.
Milk and wool were in abundance. But there was a dearth of green veggies in the region. Because there was a lack of proper modern agricultural practices and techniques.
While the men tend to their cattle in nearby mountains and ravines, the women usually passed their days tending to household chores.
After spending a few days in the field, I talked to some women from a few villages and motivated them to develop kitchen gardens.
I told them they could use their backyards to produce vegetables for themselves as well as others.
As a programme coordinator, my team and I taught them many gardening techniques – we introduced tunnels, green houses and trench techniques of gardening.
Once we craved leafy veggies – from spinach to cauliflower, brinjal to tomatoes – now we produce those and thousands of cucumbers and gourds too.
There are some women farmers who earn lakhs of rupees now.
During the project, I tested the drinking water in Leh city and to my utter shock it was highly contaminated.
I got the water tested from different labs in Chandigarh and Srinagar. The results were alarming. Why? Because the bodies of water that supply water to they city had been turned into dumping sites.
I raised the issue with the Ladakh Development Council. I met His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and requested him to deliver a message to people to avoid littering the water body.
Soon our pleas turned into a movement against the pollution of water bodies in Ladakh. Thankfully, the water is much safer compared to the previous levels.
In 2015 I got a chance to work on a vermicompost project with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
Vermicomposting in the cold and desert conditions of Ladakh is never as easy as it normally is elsewhere.
After thorough research and experimentation, I came up with a local jugaad.
Made from easily affordable local resources, the vermicomposting technique uses hay, cattle excreta, worm bags and worms and has worked successfully here.
It gives me joy to see many farmers from remote areas in Ladakh using the technique.
The lead image shows group of volunteers along with Dr. Jigmet carrying out cleanliness drive of water body under the leaders (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)
Nasir Yousufi is a journalist based at Srinagar.
