Nubra Valley Ladakh Apricot Drying Cooperative

Nubra Valley in Ladakh produces some of India finest organic apricots in a high-altitude desert microclimate at ten thousand feet. Villages like Diskit, Sumur, and Hunder grow white and yellow apricot varieties with naturally sweet non-acidic flesh. After harvest in July and August, apricots are halved and sun-dried on flat rooftop stones for ten to fourteen days under intense Ladakh summer sun. Dried apricots are stored in mud-brick storehouses for winter food security. Cooperative women groups in Nubra process apricot into jam, chutney, and kernel oil. Ladakh Cooperative Marketing Society organises bulk purchase and packaging. Nubra apricot oil from cold-pressed kernels is used in traditional Ladakhi medicine and exported as cosmetic base oil. NABARD has funded shared solar drying units for cooperative clusters.