GI tagging of Ladakh Pashmina will benefit herders, artisans: Minister

Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh said that the Ladakh Pashmina was misused by “people of Kashmir by promoting it as their own till now”.

In an official statement, the Minister said that the Geographical Indication (GI) tagging of Ladakh’s Pashmina wool, also known as soft gold, “which the people of Kashmir have hitherto misused by promoting it as their own, will prove beneficial to the people of the region, particularly the pashmina herders”.

Giriraj emphasised the importance of increasing the production of Pashmina wool in Ladakh to ensure better income for Pashmina goat herders, self-help groups and entrepreneurs and also the overall growth of Ladakh’s GDP.

He highlighted the need to encourage stall feeding of Pashmina and merino sheep by engaging women to boost their source of income. He commended the efforts being made by the UT Administration, led by the Lieutenant Governor Brig BD Mishra (Retd), to reduce the mortality rate of Pashmina goat kids.

During his visit to Ladakh, Giriraj also discussed the possibilities of increasing Pashmina production with the officials and the L-G.

The Minister also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for creating the separate UT of Ladakh after the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir “due to which the region has developed its own identity and has given opportunity to Ladakh to showcase its unique products such as Pashmina, sea buckthorn and apricots nationally and internationally”.

The Minister made several suggestions, including sending a proposal to the Ministry to set up Pashmina breeding farms at Leh and Kargil, conducting artificial insemination and stopping in-breeding of sheep; preparing a project on select breeding; conducting competition among farmers on best practices and providing incentives to them; conducting lab test of Pashmina goat milk to check available nutrients; conducting exposure visit of Director of Animal/Sheep Husbandry to get first-hand experience of best practices and preparing feed pellets from stocked fodder among others. He assured to provide all possible assistance in this regard. He also informed the L-G and the audience about various initiatives of the Ministry of Textiles.

The L-G while terming the GI registration of Pashmina wool of Ladakh as historic, stated that the authenticity and assurance of best quality wool was missing until now due to the sale of products made of fake and inferior quality wool. He informed the Minister about the efforts made by the UT Administration for the promotion of Pashmina, including the L-G’s meeting with Pashmina herders, the distribution of Pashmina kid pens to reduce the mortality rate of pashmina goat kids; the installation of the Pashmina de-hairing plant in Leh; the establishment of Directorate of Sheep Husbandry in Ladakh; the plantation of fodder at the site of the solar power plant at Pang to meet the fodder requirement during the winter months and the plan to conduct branding of mountain goats to sell the meat at good rates in the market.

The L-G sought the Ministry’s cooperation in the growth and promotion of Pashmina in Ladakh. He also highlighted the need to take the initiative to attract youth to the traditional practice of Pashmina goat herding.