Leh: The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R K Mathur today asked concerned authorities to tap full potential of sea buckthorn to add to the economy of the region.
As per reports, R K Mathur chaired a meeting to review sea buckthorn production, processing and marketing.
He suggested the dept to organise a sea buckthorn conference and urged to explore effective harvesting and processing techniques so as to realise the full potential of the berry to add to the economy of the region.
Earlier, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in collaboration with the Government of the Union Territory of Ladakh, announced to start commercial cultivation of sea buckthorn berry from the coming spring season in Ladakh.
CSIR will also develop better harvesting machinery as currently only 10% of the berry is being extracted from the wild sea buckthorn plants.
Local entrepreneurs will be provided gainful employment through farming, processing, and marketing of about 100 odd products from sea buckthorn plants, such as jams, juices, herbal tea, vitamin C supplements, health drinks, cream, oils, and soaps, in a completely organic manner.
The immunity-boosting natural berry is getting increasingly popular not only in India but also abroad for its medicinal value.
The ancient local Ladakhi Amchi medicine system also places a very high premium on the sea buckthorn berry and its curative properties. Reference to its medicinal properties has been found in the Tibetan literature of the 8th century AD.
