Tribal youths in Himachal's Lahaul promote agro tourism to sustain economy

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, September 8

The youths of Tino village under Kolang panchayat in the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti are promoting agro tourism to sustain their economy.

They have started agro tourism at Gaimur village, where they have set up camps for the stay of tourists. They are planning to expand the concept across the district in the coming days.

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During the stay of tourists, they are allowed to collect farm produce like organic vegetables from the nearby farmland for kitchen purpose. The motive is to give them the first-hand experience of agricultural produce harvesting and self-cooking under agro tourism plan. Similarly, in the sowing season, the tourists will be allowed to experience sowing of agriculture crops.

These youths are promoting organic agro tourism to attract tourists to Lahaul Spiti. They have grown exotic vegetables on their land to attract the tourists, which is purely the organic produce.

In the next phase, they are planning to set up mini hydel projects nearby the camping site to provide electricity to mud houses. These mud houses will be constructed for the stay of tourists.

Tashi Angroop, a youth of Tino village, told The Tribune, “We are a group of 20 youths, who are engaged in promotion of agro tourism. As an experiment, we have set up camping sites at Gaimur. We are providing an opportunity to tourists to have an experience from sowing to harvesting of agricultural produce, in whichever season they come.”

“Apart from this, we are planning to construct mud houses at Tino village to promote cottage tourism. Two mini hydel projects will be set up at the village to meet the demand of power supply for heating and lighting,” said another youth Tanzin Angdee.

Agro-tourism encompasses a wide variety of activities and provides a means to farmers to diversify and supplement their income. Such activities include wildlife study, horseback riding, cooking classes, wine tasting, harvest festivals, barn dances, farm stays, guided tours and petting zoos.

Deputy Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said the district administration would provide every possible effort to promote agro tourism in this tribal district. He appreciated the idea of these youths.

Collecting farm produce to cook

• During their stay, tourists are being allowed to collect farm produce like organic vegetables from the nearby farm land for kitchen purpose.
• The motive is to give them the first-hand experience of agricultural produce harvesting and self-cooking facility under agro tourism plan.
• Similarly, in sowing season, the tourists will be allowed to have sowing experience of agriculture crops on farm land.

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