“Apricots are a huge part of Ladakhi culture,” says Stanba Gyaltsan, co-founder of the social enterprise Ladakh Orchards. Anuja Dasgupta, artist and the other co-founder of Ladakh Orchards, stresses the importance of traditional farming in sustaining the sense of community. Ladakh Orchards works with farmer families over a 100-km stretch, from the Sham to the Aryan valley. Snow-covered apricot blossoms, Sham valley, Ladakh, April 2025. Credit: Ladakh Orchards via Dialogue Earth. Multiple apricot farmers in the region took to social media to show their ruined apricot trees and to ask for damage relief.