The land is irrigated by a system of channels which funnel water from the ice and snow of the mountains. The principal crops are barley and wheat. Rice was previously a luxury in the Ladakhi diet, but, subsidised by the government, has now become a cheap staple. [1]
Naked barley (Ladakhi: nas, Urdu: grim) was traditionally a staple crop all over Ladakh. Growing times vary considerably with altitude. The extreme limit of cultivation is at Korzok, on the Tso-moriri lake, at 4,600 m (15,100 ft), which has what are widely considered to be the highest fields in the world. [1]
A minority of Ladakhi people were also employed as merchants and caravan traders, facilitating trade in textiles, carpets, dyestuffs and narcotics between Punjab and Xinjiang. However, since the Chinese Government closed the borders between Tibet Autonomous Region and Ladakh, this international trade has completely dried up. [2] [3]
Indus river flowing in the Ladakh region is endowed with vast hydropower potential. Solar and wind power potentials are also substantial. Though the region is a remote hilly area without all-weather roads, the area is also rich in limestone deposits to manufacture cement from the locally available cheap electricity for various construction needs. [4]
Since 1974, the Indian Government has encouraged a shift in trekking and other tourist activities from the troubled Kashmir region to the relatively unaffected areas of Ladakh. Although tourism employs only 4% of Ladakh's working population, it accounted for 50% of the region's GNP in the year 2000. [2]
Since then, tourism has increased, exceeding 500,000 people in 2022 and 2023. The sharpest growth began after 2010 when the Bollywood film 3 Idiots —filmed in part on the Pangong Lake in Ladakh — became a big hit in India. This is a contrast to the population of Leh, 31,000. This increase adds to the economy but it is having negative effects on the land due to the increase in waste and increasing water scarcity. [5]
This era[ which? ] is recorded in Arthur Neves The Tourist's Guide to Kashmir, Ladakh, and Skardo, first published in 1911, described in the Lonely Planet travel guide in 2002. [3]
- 1 2 Rizvi, Janet (1996). Ladakh – Crossroads of High Asia. Oxford University Press.
- 1 2 Loram, Charlie (2004) [2000]. Trekking in Ladakh (2nd ed.). Trailblazer Publications.
- 1 2 Weare, Garry (2002). Trekking in the Indian Himalaya (4th ed.). Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1740590853.
- ↑ "Distribution of Rocks and Minerals in J&K state". Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ↑ Yen, Le Hoang Ngoc (10 May 2025). "Tourism in India's Ladakh border region reaches tipping point". East Asia Forum . doi:10.59425/eabc.1746878400 . Retrieved 26 May 2025.
While only 527 visitors arrived in Ladakh when it first opened for tourism in 1974, the number of inbound tourists exceeded 500,000 in 2022 and 2023. Ladakh's dramatic hike in the number of inbound tourists has driven economic growth, boosted the local service industry, raised the local standard of living and created many jobs in the community.