Ladakh moves to expand dairy processing, unlock value from apricot and seabuckthorn

S. Regupathi, Executive Director, Operations, NDDB, met Ashish Kundra, Chief Secretary, Ladakh, with the focus extending beyond milk production

Leh: Ladakh is set to deepen its focus on dairy development and food processing, with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the UT Administration discussing an expanded processing network aimed at strengthening farmer incomes, promoting local products and creating sustainable rural livelihoods.

The discussions took place when S. Regupathi, Executive Director, Operations, NDDB, met Ashish Kundra, Chief Secretary, Ladakh, with the focus extending beyond milk production to the creation of a broader value-addition ecosystem for locally produced agricultural commodities.

A key focus of the meeting was the progress and operations of the new Kargil Dairy Plant, along with plans for a 30 KLPD dairy plant at Leh and a 20 KLPD facility at Nubra. The proposed expansion is expected to significantly strengthen Ladakh’s capacity to collect, process and market locally produced milk, while creating greater opportunities for dairy farmers to participate in an organised value chain.

NDDB has already been working with the Ladakh Administration and the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council under a five-year tripartite arrangement to build a transparent, organised and sustainable dairy value chain in the UT. The Ladakh Dairy Cooperative Federation, established in 2023, is being managed with NDDB’s technical and managerial support.

The latest discussions indicate that the dairy push is now moving towards a larger geographical footprint. The Kargil plant, alongside the proposed facilities at Leh and Nubra, could provide the infrastructure required to expand milk procurement beyond existing clusters and bring more producers into the organised cooperative system.

The 10,000-litre-per-day Kargil dairy plant was among the major farmer-oriented initiatives whose foundation stone was laid in May this year. At the time, the Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah also highlighted plans for expanding dairy processing capacity in Leh and strengthening milk procurement in Ladakh.

The NDDB’s latest annual report provides an indication of the progress already made. During 2024-25, the Ladakh Dairy Cooperative Federation had expanded to 24 milk pooling points/dairy cooperative societies covering 24 villages, with around 1,200 active milk pourers and milk procurement reaching 4.5 thousand kilograms per day. Milk sales stood at around 6,000 litres per day, while more than ₹4 crore was paid to milk producers during the year.

Against this backdrop, the proposed processing infrastructure at Leh, Nubra and Kargil could mark a significant scaling-up of the dairy sector. Greater processing capacity would also allow Ladakh to move beyond the sale of raw milk and develop a wider portfolio of value-added products, improving the economic returns generated from every litre produced by local farmers.

The meeting also brought apricot and seabuckthorn into the wider food-processing agenda, opening up an important second dimension to Ladakh’s agricultural economy. Both are distinctive products associated with the region and have considerable potential for processing, branding and access to higher-value markets.

The focus on apricot is particularly relevant to the agricultural economy of Ladakh, while seabuckthorn represents one of the region’s distinctive natural products with potential for a range of value-added applications. Developing processing capabilities around such locally available resources could help create a more diversified rural economy alongside dairying.

The broader strategy is consistent with NDDB’s approach in Ladakh, which has sought to develop an integrated milk procurement, processing and marketing system rather than treating dairy development simply as an expansion of milk production. NDDB had earlier identified climatic conditions, animal health, breed suitability, feed and fodder availability, logistics, supply chains and marketing arrangements as key factors in developing a sustainable dairy roadmap for the UT.

The emerging dairy network is also intended to strengthen the cooperative model, allowing producers to collectively participate in procurement, processing and marketing. NDDB’s work with the Ladakh Dairy Cooperative Federation has already included infrastructure such as bulk milk coolers, a quality-assurance laboratory, a mobile testing laboratory and digitalised milk collection systems.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to building a stronger dairy ecosystem in Ladakh, creating greater value for farmers, promoting locally produced goods and generating sustainable livelihoods. The proposed processing infrastructure at Leh and Nubra, together with the Kargil facility and the exploration of apricot and seabuckthorn processing, could give further momentum to Ladakh’s transition from primary production towards a more integrated farm-to-processing-to-market economy.