Commissioner/Secretary Industries & Commerce Ladakh, Saugat Biswas chaired a buyer-seller meet on December 10 in which seabuckthorn sellers of Ladakh and buyers from various states participated.

The meeting aimed to deliberate on the prevailing scenario of the Seabuckthorn supply chain, the products manufactured by the buyers, interventions required for improving the chain; improving production quantity and quality, and opening opportunities for the local entrepreneurs in the chain. 

Buyers from various parts of the country attended the meeting virtually. They spoke about their line of businesses using Seabuckthornpulp, seeds, and leaves viz juices, tea, cosmetic items, medicinal purposes, etc, and highlighted that Seabuckthorn grown in Ladakh has an edge in the national and global market due to the high content of Omega-7 and that its market is growing globally.
For a smoother supply chain and to increase production, they requested interventions in areas of regulated pricing, loss of productivity due to inefficient harvesting techniques, lack of primary processing, and use of preservatives, etc.

Commissioner/Secretary informed that the administration is dedicated to the development of Seabuckthorn and that various steps have been taken and many are in the pipeline in this endeavor such as gully cutting for productive harvesting, development of efficient harvesting tools, scientific plantations, & cultivating Seabuckthorn in an industry-friendly manner, setting up of testing laboratories and providing marketing avenues. He also highlighted that the UT Administration is developing incubation centers for seabuckthorn processing, subsidizing procurement, and setting up cold-chain mechanisms, cold storage, and various incentives under the upcoming industrial policies.

Sellers and entrepreneurs from Leh and Kargil had an intense discussion over various topics with the buyers such as dehydrated pulp supply, high-value leaves for processed products and medicinal usage, organic certification, price regulation, and price forecasting, aseptic packaging, fermentation processing, standardization of pulping and certification, nutraceutical testing, commercial utilization of by-products and awareness creation.

In addition to the buyers & sellers, the meeting was attended by the Director: Industries & Commerce Ladakh, District Forest Officers, General managers of DIC, SPMY PMFME, Industries Promotion Officers, and Officers from the Cooperative department.