ICAR-CITH Transfers Breakthrough Nursery Technologies to Leh, Ladakh

ICAR–Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar has formally licensed a suite of advanced horticultural technologies to eight nursery entrepreneurs from Leh, UT of Ladakh. Through newly signed MoUs, the institute has shared state-of-the-art methods in walnut grafting and budding, rapid multiplication of apple clonal rootstocks, production of feathered apple nursery plants, and improved propagation practices for major stone fruits including apricot and peach.

For many years, Ladakh’s horticulture sector has struggled with an acute shortage of reliable planting material, caused by limited nursery infrastructure and lack of technical know-how. The transfer of these technologies marks a major step toward addressing this challenge. The innovations are expected to facilitate local production of uniform, high-quality planting material of apple, walnut, apricot, and peach, support the expansion of high-density apple orchards through quick and efficient multiplication of rootstocks and feathered saplings, enhance walnut propagation efficiency to over 80%, encouraging quicker dissemination of improved varieties and boost survival and multiplication rates in stone fruits, thereby strengthening apricot and peach cultivation across the region.

Prior to this, the same set of technologies had been successfully licensed to six nursery growers in Kargil district of Ladakh.

(Source: ICAR–Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Srinagar)