There still exist pristine places without industry and pollution where people live in harmony with their environment. One of them is the autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan. Though its area (about 65,000 sq km) extends over half the country, only 3% is habitable. Gorno-Badakhshan is located among the Pamir Mountains or “Roof of the World”. The few villages are situated in valleys beside rivers and the population cultivates every patch of available land.
Introduced from China via the Silk Route, the mulberry is perfectly adapted to the difficult mountain environment, where it grows between 1100 and 2400 meters above sea level, replacing crops such as wheat and barley, which cannot grow at these altitudes. An important food resource particularly during times of crisis, the bushes are cultivated on small plots of land and the elderly producers say that some are over a hundred years old.
via Pamir Mulberry – Tajikistan – | Slow Food Presidia | Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity.
Ismailimail 