CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES IN HYDROPONICALLY PRODUCTION OF MEDICINALLY IMPORTANCE CULINARY HERBS, EXOTIC AND HIGH VALUE VEGETABLES FOR FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY IN COLD DESERT LEH, LADAKH REGION, INDIA

Leh a Cold Desert, which is capital of union territory Ladakh and strategic location for India. There is round the year dearth of culinary herbs & exotic and high value vegetables like- basil, rosemary, parsley, oregano, mint, lettuce and minor culinary herbs and turnip, tomato, capsicum, cucumber, bitter gourd, gourds, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage etc. Meeting the demand of the region by conventional production is difficult due to the harsh climate i.e. extremely dry with scanty rainfall and very little snowfall. Being a cold desert, climate is extreme in Leh ambient minimum temperatures are below or near freezing point, however, in winter, days are sunny and bright. The soil is underdeveloped and vegetation is very sparse. Major source of water for drinking and irrigation is glacier melt water. Moreover, supply of such culinary herbs and vegetables to Ladakh region necessitates the transportation with trucks which passes at a height of 5300 m, for more than 400 kms. Food items/vegetables in winters has to be air freighted as the roads are snowed. Storage of highly perishable items such as vegetable and culinary herbs is difficult. Local people and security personnel of armed forces posted in Ladakh region do not get access to green vegetables in winter, therefore, they suffer from nutritional issues. For hospitality industry also availability of these items for tourists become difficult and costly affair. With the using of hydroponic crop production technology which offers an alternate crop production system where soil is not used as a growing medium for the crops fresh vegetables and culinary herbs can be indigenously produced in Leh-Ladakh. This technology will ensure quality food and nutritional security in this region. This production system is already being used successfully for crop production in cold regions of world similar to the climate in Leh. In this technique water culture scientists discovered that as compared to soil based growth,hydrophonic plant system needs only small number of inorganic elements in addition to water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and sun light to grow the plant Hydroponics farming can be a major advantage for Leh, Ladakh Indian Horticulture it has the potential to produce crops in every season without soil. Such practices can help Leh, Ladakh farmers to increase their crop productivity even in small fragmented lands.This review paper focus on the challenges and possibilities to bring soil less farming in cold desert region Leh, Ladakh, India to ensure its stability so that it may prove more beneficial for growers to grow crops which areuninterrupted year-round production (plant factory), high quality produce, pesticide residue free produce, sustainable crop production technology, consistency in quality and supply of fresh produce.