Meet the Entrepreneur Helping Women in Ladakh Reclaim Barley Farming

Farmer Tsering Chondol is baffled when asked how big her barley field in Ladakh is. She’s never gotten around to measuring the undulating expanse of golden spikelets; she estimates it must be equal to half a football field. 

That’s a lot of barley. 

One would presume it accounts for her main source of livelihood. But Tsering sheepishly admits that until very recently, she thought of barley as a convenience crop, a corollary of the land’s traditional cropping patterns, a side effect of the Ladakhi lifestyle where the staple thukpa (a medley of stew and noodles) features barley as the main ingredient.  

Tsering isn’t alone in her admission. This was the common consensus across farming families, which entrepreneur and local resident Tsetan Dorjay (27) discovered during the months he travelled across Ladakh while building ‘Siachen Naturals’ — an organic product brand that empowers farmers in the Siachen Valley. 

A conversation with the farmers revealed that their umbilical link with barley went beyond traditional sentiment; the crop helped them firm their resolve to pursue organic farming. Tsetan elaborates, “In Ladakh, we don’t have green grass in winters. So, we feed our barley hay during these months. The cow dung helps us fertilise the fields, letting us continue organic farming.” This realisation helped him empathise with families who accumulated barley for years on end, even though it did not fetch them money. At least it helped tide their cows through the winter. 

Barley is something of a hero in Ladakh. And, Siachen Naturals’ genius lies in a model that brings the crop out of storage, instead, assuring it its moment in the sun, while also giving farmers an impetus to grow it. 

Helping farmers rediscover the promise of indigenous crops 

In Ladakh, barley assumes myriad forms — it is ground into flatbread that is enjoyed with baril (ground apricot kernels and walnuts), ground into tsampa (made from roasted barley flour) from which thukpa noodles are formed, features in paba (a dough made out of barley) and in chang (a local beer made out of barley). “It is in everything,” farmer Tsering points out. 

But, despite its ubiquitous nature, farmers weren’t monetising it. In fact, a decade ago, the crop was at the brink of decimation. Sharing more about the dystopian mood back then, farmer Tsering says, “With more and more young people not wanting to follow farming, there was the chance that our fields would die. There was no market for barley. Even if we were growing it, we couldn’t sell it.” 

Today, the colossal web of gold that extends across the Ladakhi landscape is proof that barley refused to retire, instead, it scripted a success story. The women farmers of Ladakh credit Siachen Naturals for this, saying it paved the way for farmers to earn a justified price for growing barley. Tsering is among the 30 women farmer beneficiaries of this model. 

They are now excited about the next milestone — the introduction of solar dryers. 

When green energy enters Ladakh’s agrarian practices   

Cheese in soup, anyone? The combo might seem odd, but Siachen Naturals’ beloved customer base across India gives it a thumbs up. The sourness of the dried cheese perfectly cuts through the richness of the classic barley porridge, which is one of the hit products on the menu. The secret, Tsetan shares, lies in the cheese’s drying process. 

“Ladakh is situated at an altitude. We get a lot of sunlight, and so, the farmers sundry their produce.” But Tsetan explains that sometimes, the sunlight is harsh. “We want the fruits and herbs to be dried optimally, such that the nutrients are preserved. So, we are planning on giving the women solar dryers where an optimal temperature and humidity can be maintained.” 

In the last decade, Ladakh has witnessed a collective push for farmers to adopt solar drying technology. In a groundbreaking initiative aimed at empowering farmers and boosting Ladakh's agricultural economy, the ‘Hybrid Solar Dryer with Automatic Temperature Controller’  technology was introduced to the Technology Enabling Centre (TEC), University of Ladakh, in January 2025.

The technology intends to combat the 40 percent post-harvest spoilage that occurs because of inadequate drying and processing facilities. The produce in focus will be the Halman apricots — touted to be the sweetest apricots in the world — and the seabuckthorn, a shrub known as ‘wonder plant’ for its various purposes. Both are prized in the global health-conscious market.  

Then, there is entrepreneur Neha Upadhyaya, who has impacted over 3,000 women in Ladakh through her platform ‘Guna Organics’, which integrates organic practices and solar technology in farming. As she shared in a previous interview with The Better India, “The people of Ladakh were dependent on the apricot; rightly so, a major portion of the revenue is generated through its sale,” she says. But a little probing led her to discover that a kilo of apricots was retailing for just Rs 150. Thus began Neha’s quest to educate them about sun drying. Currently, the fruit retails for Rs 465. 

Hearing these stories of success in solar drying thrills Tsetan. 

“I spoke to many farmers who received the solar dryers in Ladakh to understand their experiences and whether it is helping them. I hear from them that quality-wise, they are seeing an improvement in the hygiene quotient of the product.” Tsetan underscores why the shift from sundrying to solar drying seems promising. “It’s not simply about the time taken. In sundrying, the fruits and herbs are exposed to wind and dust. But through solar drying, the produce will be safe.” 

Not just cheese, Tsetan plans to mimic the process for wild herbs like caraway and nettle, and the Halman apricots — a substitute for sugar in Siachen Naturals’ sweet barley porridge.

Nettle leaves (zasthot) are considered a rich source of iron and calcium. Native to the highlands of Ladakh, the herb’s status is relatively reverential. The saint Milarepa, who exiled himself to the mountains to meditate, is believed to have relied on nettle plants exclusively for nourishment. This is why, Tsetan explains, in the local parlance, nettle soup is known as ‘Milarepa’s soup’. 

Another such gem is the caraway, whose use, reports suggest, dates as far back as the Stone Age. Locally known as kosnyot, caraway is a key ingredient in the staple spice blend called thangyer. 

“Once we introduce solar dryers to process these herbs and fruits, we will also sell them separately in their dried forms, instead of only as additions to our soups,” he promises. While these ingredients will soon see an infusion of green energy for their processing, the barley cultivation is already enjoying its perks. 

“Once we harvest barley, we grind it into a flour using the water mill, which does not use any electricity. Its principle is almost the same as that of a hydroelectric plant. It’s a two-storey structure where the turbine powers the flow of water, which turns the stone, which grinds the barley into a powder,” Tsetan explains. 

Siachen Naturals’ offerings include barley soup with added dried tomato and mushroom, nettle soup, and barley porridge; the plans of expanding the menu are in the works. 

An equitable business model 

Once nervous to let her kids venture into farming territory, Tsering now encourages them towards it. After revelling in success through the model, farmers in Siachen Valley are changing their stance towards agriculture, viewing it as a viable career. 

Recounting his own experiences in 2019, when he returned home and told his parents his dreams of becoming a farmer, Tsetan says they discouraged him from it. After coaxing them, he realised that it was the easiest part of the battle. “When I got into farming, I noticed how, despite people working so hard, they hardly earned enough. It was the same with me.” 

Though Tsetan had a complimentary source of income in his job as a porter for the Indian Army during winters, the rest of the year, farming wouldn’t pay much. Siachen Naturals, he resolved, would create a level playing field for the farmers of Ladakh. 

These learnings were shaped by his time at SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh), which he joined after Class 11. The year he spent at SECMOL was transformational, he shares, adding that the programmes gave him some measure of an informed opinion on the problems his land was facing. 

“I understood about the environmental problems, about how migrations and modernisation are affecting the community. The learning was hands-on,” Tsetan notes. He began to understand the farmers’ pain points. “They quit farming because they weren’t getting a significant income from it. A lot of the families, especially women, had joined the BRO (Border Roads Organisation),” Tsetan discovered. Farmers had traded their agency for a steady source of income. 

But he wondered, “Won’t they be happier returning to farming — to what they love — instead of working for someone else?” As the farmers relayed to him, the infusion of a market model was critical to the plan. They couldn’t grow crops if there wasn’t anyone to buy them. 

And so, Tsetan resolved to build a model that would ensure this. He never returned to school. Instead, he decided to go on a journey of changing the world — or at least his world, in Ladakh. 

“We procure raw materials from the farmers, then add value to these and sell the products in the larger market. The model is self-sustaining. The market rate for barley is Rs 60 per kg. We are giving farmers Rs 75 per kg.” Elaborating on the SHGs (self-help groups) that they have partnered with, Tsetan shares, “We give them around Rs 10,000 a month irrespective of whether we purchase raw materials from them or not." 

The model not only exemplifies how one can drive holistic community growth in regions where there is reliance on a traditional crop, but also how one can do so sustainably. Through Siachen Naturals, Tsetan is ensuring that Ladakh's dining tables keep playing host to their favourite guest — the thukpa — for years to come.  

Edited by Khushi Arora; All pictures courtesy Tsetan Dorjay

Sources 

GITAM TEC Transfers Hybrid Solar Dryer Technology to University of Ladakh, Published on 15 January 2025.