15,789 MT a year
of apricots grown across 45 villages, but held back by
- Lack of marketable surplus produce
- No package of practices (PoPs) for cultivation
- Unorganised marketing
Sham Valley Apricot Producer Cooperative · Leh, Ladakh
Apricots from the cold desert, sold on farmers' own terms.
Sun-dried apricots, seasonal fresh fruit and cold-pressed kernel oil, grown at around 4,000 m by the 563 members of a farmer-owned cooperative in Ladakh's lower Sham valley.
15,789 MTapricots grown each year across 45 villages
Julley LadakhFresh, dried and cold-pressed oil
563farmer members, 318 men and 245 women
₹193.03Laggregate turnover, FY 2020-21 to 2025-26
+138%rise in the price of dried apricot after FPO intervention
14villages of lower Sham valley, organised in 14 producer groups
₹16L+net profit generated since inception
Shop by category
One fruit, three ways
Featured
From the Julley Ladakh range
Seasonal · pre-order
Fresh Ladakh apricots, pre-cooled and air-freighted
Fresh fruit is harvested, packed, pre-cooled in the valley and shipped by air during the harvest season. Reserve yours now; dispatch dates will be confirmed for the season.
Bestsellers
Most-picked from the valley
The cooperative in four numbers
From ₹0.3 lakh in its first year to a brand that ships by air
₹193.03lakhaggregate turnover across six financial years, 2020-21 to 2025-26
31MTfresh apricot marketed in 2023-24, the peak year for fresh sales
₹715/kgmarket price received by the FPO for dried apricot in 2025-26, up from ₹500
245womenof the FPO's 563 members, about 44% of the membership
Air shipmentPre-cooled fresh apricots leave Leh by air cargo
Recognition
Awards and milestones
Award · 2023
CII Excellence Award, Best FPO Market Linkage
Recognition for linking a remote cold-desert cooperative to national and export markets.
Exports
Fresh apricot exports, appreciated by Piyush Goyal
His post noted Ladakh apricots reaching the Middle East, Singapore, Vietnam and Mauritius.
Partners
Backed by partners and funding agencies
Our Impact, in Numbers
Growing Together, Empowering Ladakh
Members enrolled
Members grew from 300 to 563 in six years, the biggest jump in 2024-25
Who the members are
2025-26 membership by gender
Men · 56%Women · 44%
Nearly every second member is a woman. The FPO covers 14 villages of lower Sham valley.
+88% members since 2020-21
Business turnover
₹ lakh per financial year
₹193.03 Laggregate turnover
₹53.32 Lpeak year, 2024-25
₹0.3 Lfirst year, 2020-21
Net profit
₹ lakh per financial year
₹16 L+net profit since inception
₹6.93 Lbest year, 2022-23
Price of apricot
Dried apricot, ₹ per kg: what the farmer receives at the farm, and what the FPO receives in the market
Volume marketed
Metric tonnes per year
Fresh apricotDried apricot
Fresh apricot sales began in 2022-23 and peaked at 31 MT in 2023-24.
Turnover by product line
Share of FPO business per session. Fresh apricot grew from nothing to the largest line.
FreshDriedApricot oil
2020-22
2022-23
2024-25
Apricot oil: 1% of turnover in 2022-23, 2% in 2024-25.
Julley
Every pouch supports smallholder tribal farmers of Ladakh
The cooperative is owned by its growers. Members harvest and dry; the FPO grades, packs, brands and sells, with support from Himmotthan Society, an initiative of Tata Trusts.
Shop the harvest
Dried apricot, seasonal fresh fruit, cold-pressed apricot oil and more, packed by the Sham Valley Apricot Producer Cooperative.
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About us
A cooperative the valley owns
Sham Valley Apricot Producer Cooperative Limited brings together 563 farmer members in 14 producer groups across 14 villages of lower Sham valley, Leh.
The place
One harvest a year, at the top of the country
Ladakh became a Union Territory on 31 October 2019. Its two districts, Leh and Kargil, are home to 2.74 lakh people, and four in five belong to Scheduled Tribes.
- Terrain
- Cold desert, about 4,000 m above sea level
- Settlement
- Low population density, scattered hamlets
- Season
- One cropping season per year
- Crops
- Niche crops, apricot chief among them
- Status
- Union Territory since 31 Oct 2019
Leh and Kargil, side by side
Pick a measure to compare the two districts
Show the full district table
| District | Revenue villages | Panchayats | Blocks | Households | Population | ST % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leh | 113 | 93 | 16 | 21,909 | 1,33,487 | 72% |
| Kargil | 127 | 95 | 12 | 18,338 | 1,40,802 | 87% |
| Total | 240 | 188 | 28 | 40,247 | 2,74,289 | 80% |
Leh Livelihood Initiative
Improve the quality of life of 5,000 families in 50 villages of Ladakh through sustainable livelihoods and skill development.
2Districts
14Blocks
60Revenue villages
4,000+Households
Villages per cluster
Four clusters across Leh and Kargil, plus 100+ hamlets. Sham is home to the apricot FPO.
LivelihoodWASHCommunity institutionsEducationRenewable energy
The team on the ground
7 projects backed by Tata Trusts, HDFC, ABF, LIC and Standard Chartered Bank
07Projects
05Funding agencies
28Project staff
10Community resource persons
16Master trainers
20Board directors
5 offices: Leh, RongChugut, Nyoma, Durbuk and Achinathang
Why a value chain
Plenty of fruit, too little reaching market
The valleys grow apricots in volume, yet farmers had no surplus to sell in an organised way. The idea was incubated with several funding agencies and grew into a centre for apricot in the lower Indus.
Centre for apricot
Sham Valley, lower Indus
- Apricot FPO owned by its growers
- Drying and packaging
- Branding and marketing
STEP 1
Thematic, value-chain approach
Start from one commodity that matters to tribal livelihoods in the cold desert.
STEP 2
The product becomes the FPO's foundation
The identified product, apricot, became the basis for establishing the producer organisation.
STEP 3
Read demand, standardise supply
Assess market demand and standardise the product through strengthened backward linkages.
Why an FPO?
Sparse population, low productivity, heavy wastage and high operating costs, for a key commodity in the livelihoods of tribal families in Ladakh's cold desert.
The cooperative
A producer company the valley owns
Registered under the J&K Self-Reliant Cooperatives Act of 1999, the FPO operates its own processing unit and sells under its brand.
Fact sheet
Sham Valley Apricot Producer Cooperative Limited
- By-laws
- J&K SRC Act 1999
- Products
- Fresh apricot, dried apricot, apricot oil
- Brand
- Julley Ladakh
- Implementing agency
- Himmotthan Society
- Membership
- 563 members in 14 producer groups
- Funding
- Tata Trusts, MoTA, HDFC, ABF, EXIM, NABARD and the community
Operational structure
Farmers organise into interest groups under one valley-level FPO
↑ Forward linkagesBackward linkages ↓
FPO levelProduct grading and processing; packaging, labelling, pricing; branding and marketing
Group levelProduct collection; first-level sorting and grading
Farmer levelApricot harvesting and drying; supply of products
Valley-level Apricot FPO
Farmers' Interest GroupFarmers' Interest Group14 producer groups
FarmerFarmerFarmerFarmer563 members
FPO levelInput supply to members; capacity building; operation of the CoE for apricot
Group levelInformation dissemination; mobilising and training farmers; business planning
Farmer levelAdopting new technologies; productivity enhancement
What still holds growth back
Four open challenges
Technical guidance
No centre of excellence for apricot, PoPs, input supply or post-harvest technology yet.
Limited data
Little reliable data on production, varieties and markets.
GI tag for Halman
Geographical Indication for the Halman apricot varieties is still pending.
Logistics
Moving perishable fruit out of a remote, high-altitude region.
Future strategy
A time-bound path to a self-reliant FPO
The FPO life cycle moves through four stages. At each one, dependency on Himmotthan Society (HMS) falls and the FPO takes on more of the work.
Incubation
Formation, registration and pilot business
HMS dependency80–90%
Intensive handholding- Focus
- Institution building and proof of concept
- Key outputs
- Basic compliance, initial turnover, member mobilisation
Stabilisation
Co-management and systems building
HMS dependency50–60%
Shared responsibility- Focus
- Governance, finance, MIS and HR systems
- Key outputs
- Functional board and CEO, regular accounts, stable operations
Transition and expansion
FPO-led operations with an operational self-sufficiency focus
HMS dependency20–30%
Mentoring support- Focus
- Business expansion and diversification
- Key outputs
- Break-even or profit, strong market and finance linkages
Sustainability
Full ownership and accountability with the FPO
HMS dependency<10%
On-call advisory only- Focus
- Scaling, federation and ecosystem leadership
- Key outputs
- 100% operational self-sufficiency, consistent surplus, peer mentoring role
Himmotthan-ledFPO-owned
Our value chain
From orchard to pouch
Members harvest and dry. Producer groups collect and do a first sort. The FPO grades, packs, brands and markets.
Farm to you
The journey of a Sham Valley apricot
Five stages, from orchards at around 4,000 m in Ladakh's cold desert to your door.
-
Orchards of lower Sham valley Stage 1 · OrchardOrchards in the cold desert
Apricot is a key crop for tribal families in Ladakh, where there is one cropping season a year. Across 45 villages, orchards produce about 15,789 MT of apricots annually. Member farmers are trained on the apricot package of practices and receive inputs such as bio-foliar fertiliser and bio-pesticides.
- About 4,000 m above sea level
- 14 villages of lower Sham valley
- One cropping season a year
-
Harvested fruit packed in the orchard Stage 2 · HarvestingHarvested by member families
When the fruit ripens, member families harvest it with harvesting nets provided through the programme. Fruit for fresh sale is packed in the orchard, and the rest is dried by the families using apricot solar dryers.
- 563 member farmers
- 245 women members
- Harvesting nets and solar dryers
-
Sorting and grading Stage 3 · ProcessingCollected, sorted and graded
Producer groups collect the produce from members and do a first-level sort. At the FPO's processing unit, dried apricots are sorted, graded and standardised, and apricot stones are decorticated so the kernels can be pressed for oil.
- 14 producer groups
- First-level sorting at group level
- Kernel oil extraction
-
Packed under the Julley Ladakh label Stage 4 · PackagingPacked under the Julley Ladakh brand
Dried apricots are packed in 250 g and 500 g pouches and apricot oil is bottled, then labelled and priced at the FPO unit. Fresh apricots go to a solar pre-cooling unit before dispatch.
- Packaging, labelling and pricing
- Solar pre-cooling for fresh fruit
-
Fresh apricots leave by air cargo Stage 5 · From FPO to customerFrom the cooperative to you
The FPO markets the range itself, linking Sham valley to domestic, institutional and export buyers. Fresh apricots are air-freighted in season, and in 2023 the cooperative won the CII Excellence Award for Best FPO Market Linkage.
Apricot value chain
From the orchard to an air-cargo hold
Production support builds quality at the farm. Marketing work turns that quality into a branded, priced product.
Production side
Farmer training on apricot PoPPackage of practices for better yield and quality
Distribution of apricot inputsBio-foliar fertiliser, bio-pesticides, potassium metabisulphite
Product standardisationConsistent grades, moisture and packing
Marketing side
Farmer Producer Organisation formationMembers, groups and a board of directors
Market studyWhere demand is, and at what price
Product branding and marketingThe Julley Ladakh range
Supply chain by product
How each product moves from the valley to buyers
Harvesting and packaging
Shipped to pre-cooling
Pre-cooling
Air shipment
Collection and storage
Sorting and grading
Packaging and branding
Training
Apricot value chain
Inputs
Bio-foliar fertiliser, bio-pesticides, potassium metabisulphite
Drying equipment
Harvesting nets, apricot solar dryers
Processing unit
Fresh collection, pre-cooling and dispatch · dried sorting, grading and packaging · kernel decortication, oil extraction and packaging
Awards and recognition
Recognition and the partners behind it
Milestones
Confirmed milestones
Drawn from the FPO's own reporting. Dates are given only where the source states them.
FY 2020-21First business year
₹0.3 lakh turnover with 300 members, all from dried apricot.
FY 2022-23Fresh apricot sales begin
21 MT of fresh apricot marketed; turnover rises to ₹43.33 lakh.
2023CII Excellence Award
Best FPO Market Linkage.
FY 2023-24Peak fresh volume
31 MT of fresh apricot marketed.
FY 2024-25Record turnover
₹53.32 lakh turnover; membership reaches 555.
MilestoneExport appreciation
Piyush Goyal appreciated the export of fresh apricot from Ladakh.
MilestoneJullay Ladakh gift hamper
The FPO's products featured in the Jullay Ladakh gift hamper.
Award · 2023
CII Excellence Award, Best FPO Market Linkage
Recognition for linking a remote cold-desert cooperative to national and export markets.
Exports
Appreciated by Piyush Goyal
His post noted Ladakh apricots reaching the Middle East, Singapore, Vietnam and Mauritius.
Partners and funding agencies
Who supports the cooperative
Gallery
Orchards, drying, packing, logistics and the people of Sham valley.
News and updates
Milestones and updates from the Sham Valley Apricot Producer Cooperative and its member farmers.
Contact us
Questions about products, orders or visiting the valley. For larger orders, use the bulk enquiry form.
Sham Valley Apricot Producer Cooperative LtdLower Sham valley, Leh, Ladakh
Sham valley, Leh · lower IndusLeh, Ladakh
Bulk & B2B
Source Ladakh apricots for your business
For retailers, hotels and restaurants, gifting companies and institutional buyers. Tell us what you need and the FPO will follow up on volumes, formats and pricing.
Retailers
Branded Julley Ladakh pouches and bottles for shelves and online stores.
Hotels & restaurants
Dried and seasonal fresh apricot for kitchens, breakfast and minibars.
Gifting companies
Curated boxes for festive, corporate and event gifting.
Institutional buyers
Government, cooperative and institutional procurement.
What the FPO can supply
Dried apricotSorted and graded, in bulk pack formats on request.
Fresh apricotSeasonal; pre-cooled and air-freighted.
Apricot oilCold-pressed from the kernel.
Minimum order quantities, lead times and wholesale prices will be shared by the FPO on enquiry.