Ladakh’s ‘Sanjeevani’ Sea Buckthorn Gets Push for National Research Centre at Nubra
LEH/NUBRA, August 25: Ladakh’s high-value Himalayan crop, Sea Buckthorn, is set to receive a major research and development push with the Union Agriculture Ministry constituting a High-Level Committee to examine the setting up of a dedicated National Sanjeevani Research Centre at Nubra.
The committee was constituted following a request to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on August 14 to establish a dedicated centre for research, development, value addition and commercialization of Sea Buckthorn, widely regarded for its medicinal and nutritional properties.
The initiative has been welcomed as an important step towards unlocking the economic potential of Ladakh’s rich heritage of medicinal and high-altitude crops while creating new livelihood opportunities for farmers, cooperatives and local communities.
The committee has already arrived in Ladakh and is scheduled to meet farmers, cooperatives and officials in Nubra. It will submit its report within 45 days.
The proposed exercise will examine the existing status of Sea Buckthorn in Ladakh, including its natural distribution, cultivation, production, utilisation and ongoing research. It will also explore genetic improvement, propagation, standardized cultivation, harvesting, post-harvest management, processing and quality assurance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted the medicinal and nutritional potential of Ladakh’s Sea Buckthorn and referred to it as “Sanjeevani”, giving further national attention to the Himalayan resource.
The proposed research centre could provide a scientific platform for developing Sea Buckthorn-based products, improving cultivation practices and strengthening value chains so that a larger share of the economic benefits reaches local farmers and communities.
However, experts and environmental stakeholders underline that commercialization must not come at the cost of Ladakh’s fragile high-altitude ecosystems. Conservation and sustainable use should remain the guiding principles, particularly where natural populations of medicinal plants and other Himalayan resources are concerned.
The focus, therefore, needs to remain on scientific cultivation, controlled harvesting, regeneration, quality standards and value addition rather than indiscriminate extraction from the wild.
Ladakh’s medicinal and aromatic plant wealth has the potential to emerge as an important pillar of the region’s rural economy. A dedicated national research institution could help combine traditional knowledge with modern science while ensuring that the ecological character of the Himalayan landscape is protected.
The initiative is expected to open new avenues for scientific innovation, local entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods, provided that development and conservation move together.
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