The Ministry of Ayush has confirmed active government backing for cultivating high-value medicinal plants native to Ladakh’s cold-desert terrain, including Seabuckthorn, Rhodiola, Artemisia and Aconitum, citing the region’s distinct agro-climatic advantages.
The response, delivered in Parliament by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ayush Shri Prataprao Jadhav, outlined how the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) is driving this effort through its Central Sector Scheme for Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants. Support spans quality planting-material infrastructure, farmer awareness drives, post-harvest processing, and raw-material certification.
A key enabler is NMPB’s e-CHARAK platform — a multilingual app and web portal that tracks fortnightly pricing across roughly 100 medicinal plant species from 25 herbal markets nationwide, including Ladakh, while also connecting growers directly with buyers.
Locally, the Union Territory’s State Medicinal Plant Board has been running capacity-building workshops and buyer-seller meets to strengthen sustainable harvesting practices in partnership with research bodies.
On the funding side, the National AYUSH Mission channeledRs. 705.11 lakh to Ladakh over the past five years for healthcare infrastructure and Ayush facility upgrades, of which Rs. 534.24 lakh has reportedly been utilized so far.
Separately, under the Agriculture Ministry’s Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, a dedicated Seabuckthorn Centre of Excellence came up at Nimoo, Leh in 2020-21, backed by Rs. 789.33 lakh and technical inputs from DRDO’s high-altitude research wing (DIHAR).
An annexed project list shows NMPB has sanctioned seven region-specific initiatives since 2022-23 — spanning conferences, germplasm conservation studies, and herbal garden development — worth a combined Rs. 120.75 lakh.
Written By: Sayan Das
Graphics by: Pramit Hazra
