First air consignment of high-altitude Liliums flagged off from Ladakh by LG Saxena

In a major economic success for the cold desert region of ladakh, Lt. Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Tuesday flagged off the first air-consignment of 15,000 “A-grade” Ladakh-grown Liliums to national markets, from the Leh airport, marking a historic step towards creating new livelihoods for our local communities and aesthetic revolution in Ladakh, through commercial floriculture.
“Inspired by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi ji’s vision of financial empowerment of farmers and youth through agricultural diversification, this landmark initiative, executed in just 60 days, will usher in an era of new economic opportunities and rural entrepreneurship in Ladakh”, Saxena wrote on X.
Alongside opening access to national flower markets, these flower fields will add multi-hued dimensions to Ladakh’s otherwise rugged, barren visual identity, he said.
“I am pleased to share that the flower field is already providing a commercial avenue to 15 local women engaged in cutting, sorting and packaging of flowers, while a trained local youth is looking after the marketing of the flowers”, he said.
“The flower field, I am confident, will emerge as a much sought-after tourist and film-shooting destination, thereby, creating a convergence between profitable agriculture and sustainable tourism in Ladakh”.
India’s highest commercial Lilium cultivation field was recently  established at a height of 3276 metres with the development of a large-scale floriculture project at Choglamsar in Leh. Conceived to diversify the region’s agricultural economy and create sustainable livelihood opportunities, the initiative has already planted more than 50,000 premium Lilium bulbs with flowering in the first week of September.
Spread over an area of 93,000 square metres, the Choglamsar Flower Field, on the banks of the River Sindhu, has been developed as one of the largest organised high-altitude floriculture parks in the country.