A technological innovation involving green technology of water and space heating, tested extensively in HP, taken to remote and difficult area in Zanskar Valley, Kargil., J&K under DST-SEED-TIME-LEARN Program with further customization and installation of 158 solar  panels involving community to work in sub-zero conditions of Ladakh”.

Ladakh region of J&K is cold desert, and dung is the major source of energy in rural houses for cooking, water and space heating. Women toil hard to collect dung from limited grazing land and livestock sheds and store dung cakes for use in winter, when the ambient temperature remains way below freezing point. Burning of dung as source of energy deprives agriculture land of manure resulting in poor productivity, which restrict cultivation of traditional crops of Oat, barley and wheat.

Department of Science and Technology (DST), through its Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division, initiated Technology Intervention for Mountain Ecosystem: Livelihood Enhancement through Action Research & Networking (TIME-LEARN) program to address location-specific needs of mountain community in N-W Himalayas. A collaborative project of Highland Agricultural Research and Extension Station (HAERS), Padum, Zanskar and Himalayan Research Group (HRG), Shimla, which is a Core Group of DST-SEED, was launched to customize & deliver select technologies, developed and field tested by HRG in Himachal Pradesh (HP). Through consultative process and need assessment exercise, technology package for solar water and space heating was identified for adoption and benefit to the community.

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