Leh Ladakh Research Articles

Introduction and performance study of Pashmina goats in Kargil District (Non Traditional Area) of Jammu & Kashmir, India

Pashmina goats, normally reared by changpa, a nomadic tribe in Changthang region of Leh Ladakh have been introduced in Kargil District of J&K state under the NAIP Pashmina Project with the objective of expansion of pashmina goat rearing area and enhancing the livelihood security of the farmers in these areas. Fifty one (51) mini farm units of goats, each comprising of 9 does and 1 buck were established in Kargil district (Suru, Bodhkharbu, Drass, Shakar, Chiktan and Khangriyal). The intervention in the form of shelter, feeding and health cover was provided to all the farm units. After two years of rearing, the average survivability and mortality was reported as 84.07± 0.49 (%) and 15.93± 0.49 (%) respectively. The overall kidding percentage was reported as 79.62± 0.77 with kid mortality as 24.92± 0.71(%). The pashmina yield/head was 161.6± 0.31 (gms) with fibre diameter and fibre length of 14.07±0.11 (μ) and 55.99± 0.19 (mm) respectively. The average body weight (kg) of kids, hoggets and adults was reported as 2.63± 0.09, 20.72±0.19 and 28.87± 0.12 respectively. The study revealed that the adaptability and production performance of pashmina goats in some of the areas of Kargil (Non Traditional Belt) which is having similar ecological niche as that of Changthang region (Traditional Belt) is very good in terms of survivability, kidding percentage, pashmina yield etc. Further, by adoption of pashmina goat rearing in these areas, there is an enhancement of livelihood security through sale of pashmina and increase in strength of livestock which is expected to reach worth Rs 250000 after 5 years and an increase in total production area of Pashmina from Ladakh.

Culturable diversity and functional annotation of psychrotrophic bacteria from cold desert of Leh Ladakh (India)

To study culturable bacterial diversity under subzero temperature conditions and their possible functional annotation, soil and water samples from Leh Ladakh region were analysed. Ten different nutrient combinations were used to isolate the maximum possible culturable morphotypes. A total of 325 bacterial isolates were characterized employing 16S rDNA-Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis with three restriction endonucleases AluI, MspI and HaeIII, which led to formation of 23-40 groups for the different sites at 75% similarity index, adding up to 175 groups. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing led to the identification of 175 bacteria, grouped in four phyla, Firmicutes (54%), Proteobacteria (28%), Actinobacteria (16%) and Bacteroidetes (3%), and included 29 different genera with 57 distinct species. Overall 39% of the total morphotypes belonged to the Bacillus and Bacillus derived genera (BBDG) followed by Pseudomonas (14%), Arthrobacter (9%), Exiguobacterium (8%), Alishewanella (4%), Brachybacterium, Providencia, Planococcus (3%), Janthinobacterium, Sphingobacterium, Kocuria (2%) and Aurantimonas, Citricoccus, Cellulosimicrobium, Brevundimonas, Desemzia, Flavobacterium, Klebsiella, Paracoccus, Psychrobacter, Sporosarcina, Staphylococcus, Sinobaca, Stenotrophomonas, Sanguibacter, Vibrio (1%). The representative isolates from each cluster were screened for their plant growth promoting characteristics at low temperature (5-15°C). Variations were observed among strains for production of ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, indole-3-acetic acid and siderophore, solubilisation of phosphate, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity and biocontrol activity against Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phaseolina. Cold adapted microbes may have application as inoculants and biocontrol agents in crops growing at high altitudes under cold climate condition.