Development of India's highest commercial Lilium cultivation field starts in Ladakh

Leh/Jammu, Jul 16 (PTI) The development of India's highest commercial Lilium cultivation field has commenced in Ladakh's Choglamsar area, as part of an initiative to establish Ladakh as a hub for premium floriculture, officials said on Thursday. More than 50,000 premium Lilium bulbs have been planted over the past three days at the flower field, with the first bloom expected in the first week of September, the officials said. This marks the launch of a first-of-its-kind high-altitude floriculture project aimed at creating sustainable livelihoods for farmers, self-help groups (SHGs) and cooperative societies. Spread across 93,000 square metres on the banks of the river Sindhu, the Choglamsar Flower Field is being developed as one of the country's largest organised high-altitude floriculture parks, they said. Situated at an altitude of around 3,265 metres, it surpasses the country's existing highest flower field at Mana in Uttarakhand, located at 3,200 metres. The project is being implemented by the agriculture department with scientific and technical support from the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, they said. Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had laid its foundation on June 22. The project aligns with Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah's vision of "Sahkar se Samriddhi", which focuses on strengthening cooperatives to generate employment and improve incomes of local communities, particularly women and farmers. Under the project, the Agriculture Department will develop the flower field during the first year and transfer its management to selected SHGs and cooperative societies at the time of flowering, they said. The department will provide marketing support to help them access national and international markets before handing over commercial cultivation, harvesting and value addition from next year onwards, they added. Local farmers are also being imparted structured training in scientific floriculture, modern cultivation techniques and commercial flower production. "By introducing commercial cultivation of Lilium, we are opening a completely new avenue of income for our farmers, women and youth. Our vision is to transform Ladakh into a high-altitude floriculture hub where scientific cultivation, value addition and market linkages generate sustainable livelihoods," Saxena said. PTI AB VHI DRR