Agriculture

The project to transport water from the Hushe River to the fields to irrigate the fields has been a reality for a long time. The valley is a mountain desert, and although the soil is fertile, it hardly rains in the spring and summer. And, of course, if the crops are not watered, they do not grow. Although there is not much rain, there are many glaciers, and the Hushe River carries enough water. Therefore, it was decided to pump water from the Hushe River. The water is pumped to a reservoir 250 meters from the river. Thus, they transport water from the reservoir, through the old canals. “The works have been very important, in addition to facilitating the work of farmers, because there is no such infrastructure in Baltistan. They mainly sow wheat, and they hardly have water to irrigate it,” explained Kamara. It was a need requested by them, and it has been running for seven years. In addition, they are working with the local farmers to improve the production of vegetables and fruits. They have built greenhouses and are starting to experiment with different products, for example potatoes that were not sown until now. In terms of fruit production, Albertxi is dominant in the valley. They are working to improve production and marketing. They have installed facilities to wash and dry the fruit, so that they can eat this product even in the winter, and they will also install presses to extract oil from the seeds.