How these Women Grow Vegetables in the Cold Desert of Ladakh

How These Women Grow Vegetables in the Cold Deserts of Ladakh follows women, including Tsering Angmo and Tsering Lamo, in Kesar, a remote village of 15–17 households in Changthang, where winters reach –30°C and many men outmigrate for work. Fresh vegetables once arrived from Leh about once a week and were expensive, limiting the variety of food available. However, with the introduction of polyhouse farming to the region by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST, Jammu), the  women of the village have begun growing vegetables and greens in controlled environments.

They not only farm together but also share their meals, caretaking responsibilities, and the highs and lows of their lives. Polyhouse farming, though still new to the region, has reduced their reliance on produce transported from Leh and even introduced dietary variety. This short documentary reveals how adaptation is critical for the women farmers—in this case, with a reorganisation of agricultural labour. Interestingly, it also brings forth a reimagined domestic order. Where the home is often a site of excess labour for the women, in Kesar, its burdens are reduced through mutual care—living, cooking, and eating together, providing an alternative to the heteropatriarchal familial unit.