Kangra's 'organic' wool exported to Europe, US

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, February 17

The wool produced by sheep reared by traditional Gaddi shepherds of Palampur, Baijnath and Multhan areas in Kangra district has been certified as organic by the Uttarakhand State Seeds and Organic Production Certification Agency for sale in national and international markets. It is an international-level certification.

Shepherds getting 20% higher prices

• Gaddi shepherds are getting about 20% higher rates for their wool produce than what the government’s Wool Federation of Himachal Pradesh offers them
• They are selling their organic wool to Indian companies, which are exporting it to Europe and the US where its demand is rising
• Uttarakhand State Seeds and Organic Production Certification Agency has certified sheep of Gaddi shepherds of Kangra as organic

These traditional shepherds are now getting about 20 per cent higher rates for their produce than what the government’s Wool Federation of Himachal Pradesh offers them. They are selling their organic wool to Indian companies, which are exporting it to Europe and the US where its demand is rising.

The Wool Federation of Himachal Pradesh offers Rs 64 per kg of produce to the shepherds while they are selling wool certified as organic to companies for Rs 77 to Rs 85 per kg.

Pawana Devi, a shepherd of Bara Bhangal area, says that their organisation Ghumantu Pashupalak Sabha started dealing in wool in 2017. The shepherds of Himachal, who roam in mountains with their sheep and goat, produce organic wool but have not been getting a remunerative price for it.

She says that they contacted NGO Shikhar Cooperative Society that helped them get their sheep certified as organic by the Uttarakhand agency. Initially, in 2017, about 50,000 sheep in Multhan and Baijnath areas were certified as organic. About 200 shepherd families, who reared these sheep, joined the movement to get their animals registered as organic. The campaign was successful as in 2018, autumn wool harvested from sheep and certified as organic fetched Rs 75 per kg, she adds.

Pawana Devi says that in 2018, around 75,000 sheep in Palampur subdivision were certified as organic, thus benefiting 300 shepherd families. In 2019, around 63,000 sheep of Kullu region were certified as organic. The Ghumantu Pashupalak Sabha helped traditional shepherds sell 75,000 kg of certified organic wool to Organic Living Pvt. Ltd for Rs 85 per kg in 2019. In 2020-21, around 1.10 lakh kg of certified wool was sold to the company at the rate of Rs 85 per kg while in 2021-22, 1.43 lakh kg of wool was sold at the same price, she adds.

She says that this year, the price of organic wool has fallen to Rs 77 per kg, as the rates of wool in Jammu and Kashmir crashed after the state wool federation was dissolved.

Akshay Jasrotia, who is associated with the Ghumantu Pashupalak Sabha, says that there are around 22 lakh sheep and goat reared by traditional shepherds in the state. However, it is sad that the government policies have always benefited dairy farmers rearing cow and buffaloes. Traditional shepherds are generally ignored in animal husbandry policies of the state, he claims.