plantation crops

Agriculture of Nagaland

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Agriculture of Nagaland

  • Nagaland, the smallest hilly state situated at the extreme northeastern end of India, lies between 25° 6′ and 27° 4′ latitude, North of Equator and between the Longitudinal line 93° 20’ E and 95° 15’E.
  • The state shares its boundary with Assam on the West, Myanmar on the East, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam on the North and Manipur on the South.
  • One prominent feature of traditional agriculture practices in Nagaland is its high degree of agro-biodiversity.
  • This high agro-biodiversity evolved through exploitation of local site factors, consideration of food security for the family, judicious selection of crops and varieties for cultivation, diversified forms of traditional agricultural systems and in recent years, the cash income generating possibilities.
  • There are four diversified forms of traditional agriculture practiced by the rural villagers of Nagaland: the Jhum (Shifting Cultivation) System, Terrace Rice Cultivation (TRC), Firewood Reserve Forests and Home Gardens.

Agro-Climatic Zones

  • In general, Nagaland has a typical monsoon climate with variants ranging from tropical to temperate conditions.
  • In the plains and low altitudes, the temperatures remains high almost throughout the year excepting the month of December and January, and in the hills and higher altitudes the temperature remain low.
  • The climate is quite invigorating throughout the year. The year is divided into four seasons: Winter, Pre-monsoon, Monsoon and Retreading Monsoon.
  • For agriculture purpose, it is divided into two seasons : Winter (Rabi) and Summer (Kharif)
  1. Sub Alpine temperate zone (1500-3500m MSL)
  2. Sub tropical Hill Zone (1000-1500m MSL)
  3. Sub tropical Plain zone (400-1000m MSL)
  4. Mild tropical Hill zone (200-800m MSL)

Land Use Pattern

  • The total geographical area of the State is 16,57,900 Ha. Out of which 7, 22,464 Ha. are under cultivable area which comes to 43.58%.
  • The major land use pattern is slash and burn cultivation locally known as
  • The Angami and Chakesang tribes have on the other hand, developed a system of Wet Terrace Rice Cultivation (WTRC) which is practiced alongside jhum cultivation.
  • Besides, there are other land use systems such as Horticulture and Agro-forestry, which are of recent origin.
  • The combination of horticultural crops with forestry will ensure parmenent plant cover on hill-slops.

Feature of Agriculture of Nagaland

  • Nagaland has basically an agricultural economy.
  • Over 70% of the population is dependent on Agriculture of Nagaland.
  • The main crops are rice, millet, maize and pulses.
  • Cash crops like sugarcane and potato are also becoming popular.
  • Coffee, cardamom and tea are grown as plantation crops in Nagaland.
  • Rice is the dominant crop and also the staple diet of the people, of the gross cropped area under food grains, rice accounts for about 84.4%.
  • Oil seeds are also an important crop which includes Rapeseed, mustard etc.
  • Coffee cardamom and tea are grown as plantation crops in Nagaland.
  • Principal crops are Arums, yams, millet, maize, potatoes and sugarcane. Vegetable crops are melon, cucumbers, spinach leaf, mustard, onion, chillies, carrots, tomatoes, brinjal etc.
  • The two methods of cultivation among the Naga tribes are jhuming and terrace cultivation.
  • The area under jhum cultivation is about 87.339 hectares and under terraced cultivation is about 62,091 hectares.

Jhum Cultivition of Agriculture of Nagaland

  • In jhuming, the individual parcels out his field into a number of plots and cultivates a particular plot for one or two years.
  • In the following year, he shifts to the next plot and that also is cultivated for the same period. In this way, after the rotation is completed, the first plot is taken up again.
  • The jungle is felled and burnt and the crops are sown on the ground fertilized by ashes.
  • The complete rotation of plots may take between six to ten years depending upon the acreage of the field.
  • The longer this duration is, the more fertile the soil becomes and better the crops are, this method of cultivation is in vogue among the Semas, Aos and Lothas.
  • Jhuming has its obvious disadvantages. A large area of land is required for cultivation. Besides, the crops is dependent on rainfall.

Terrace Cultivation of Agriculture of Nagaland

  • A more modern method is that of preparing terraced fields.
  • The Angamis are experts in this art.
  • The complete hillside is cut, beautiful terraces whose width would depend up on the gradient of the feature, are made.
  • The fields are irrigated by a net work of water channels.
  • Normally the terraces are so graduated that water flows down conveniently from one terrace to the other below it, and so on.
  • Bamboo pipes are used to regulate the flow of water.
  • The excavating of the terraces requires a colossal effort, and one marvels at the amount of human energy expended in cutting them into shape, but these terraced fields, once prepared, are much easier to maintain than the jhum plots.
  • They have also the advantage of being closer to the village site.
  • The State Government is trying to persuade the villagers to change over from jhuming to terracing.
  • The Government is in fact, making all out efforts to improve the agriculture.
  • It has under taken a number of irrigation projects, supplied pumping set to farmers, started community Development projects, set up seed farms and established an agricultural research centre.
  • As a result of these measures, there has already been a sustained increase in the tonnage of rice produced.

Agriculture of Nagaland

Crop Rotations:

  1. Paddy- Mustard
  2. Paddy- maize
  3. Paddy- linseed
  4. Maize – Black gram
  5. Soybean –fallow
  6. Paddy-cabbage
  7. Maize- winter vegetables
  8. Cucurbits – winter vegetables
  9. Paddy –fallow
  10. Maize –fallow
  11. Ginger –fallow

Crop Sequences:

  1. Paddy followed by Mustard
  2. Paddy followed by maize
  3. Paddy followed by linseed
  4. Maize followed by Black gram
  5. Soybean followed by fallow
  6. Paddy followed by cabbage
  7. Maize followed by winter vegetables
  8. Cucurbits followed by winter vegetables
  9. Paddy mono crop
  10. Maize mono crop
  11. Ginger mono crops

 

Inter Cropping: Jhum paddy maize, colocasia, soybean, cucurbits

Mixed Cropping Jhum paddy maize, colocasia, soybean, cucurbits

Cash Crops: Cotton Sugarcane, Jute, Tea, Coriander

Rice

  • Cultivation of rice requires hot and moist climate.
  • It is a Kharief crop and is sown in March-April and harvested in Autumn.
  • Sufficient water must cover the fields.
  • Temperature: Rice requires hot and humid conditions. The temperature should be fairly high i.e. 24°C mean monthly temperature with average temperature of 22°C to 32°C.
  • Rainfall: Rainfall ranging between 150-300 cm is suitable for its growth, where rainfall is less than 100 cm, rice is cultivated with the help of irrigation.
  • Soil: Rice is grown in varied soil conditions but deep clayey and loamy soil provides the ideal conditions.

Maize

  • It requires hot dry climate.
  • Rainfall required for maize varies from 75 cms to 125 cms.
  • It is sown in May-July and harvested in August-November

Salient Features of  Indian/Agriculture of Nagaland

  1. Subsistence Agriculture of Nagaland: Most parts of India have subsistence agriculture. This type of Agriculture of Nagaland has been practised in India for several hundreds of years and still prevails in a larger part of India in spite of the large scale change in agricultural practices after independence.
  2. Pressure of population on Agriculture of Nagaland : Despite increase in urbanization and industrialization, about 70% of population is still directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture.
  3. Mechanization of farming: Green Revolution took place in India in the late sixties and early seventies. After more than forty years of Green Revolution and revolution in agricultural machinery and equipments, complete mechanization is still a distant dream
  4. Dependence upon monsoon: Since independence, there has been a rapid expansion of irrigation infrastructure. Despite the large scale expansion, only about one third of total cropped area is irrigated today. As a consequence, two third of cropped areas is still dependent upon monsoon. Monsoon in India is uncertain and unreliable. This has become even more unreliable due to change in climate.
  5. Variety of crops: India has diversity of topography, climate and soil. Since India has both tropical and temperate climate, crops of both the climate are found in India. There are very few countries in the world that have variety comparable to that of India..
  6. Predominance of food crops: Since Indian agriculture has to feed a large population, production of food crops is the first priority of the farmers almost everywhere in the country. However, in recent years, there has been a decline in the share of land used for food crops due to various other commercially most advantageous uses of this land.
  7. Seasonal patterns: India has three distinct agricultural/cropping seasons. You might have heard about kharif, rabi and zaid. In India there are specific crops grown in these three seasons. For example rice is a kharif crop whereas wheat is a rabi crop.

 

Challenges are faced by farmers

Farmers of our country are facing lot of problems regarding agricultural production of crop. Few of them are shortlisted below:

  • Uncertain weather
  • Uneven water availability
  • Lesser yield
  • Low quality crops
  • Lack of soil nutrients
  • Buyer’s monopoly
  • Less cash in hand
  • Less scientific guidance during agricultural
  • Less information regarding selection of crop seed
  • Inadequate information of plant root moisture holding capacity
  • Less information of scientific irrigation process for maximum yield
  • Less aware of the market and growing technology

 

An Introduction to Nagaland Economy

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An Introduction to Nagaland Economy

Nagaland is one among the north-eastern states in India. It’s deckled on its west and north by Assam, on its east by Myanmar (formerly called Burma), on its north by Arunachal Pradesh, and on its south by Manipur.

Nagaland is one among India’s smallest states, with a complete area of 16,579 sq kilometer (6400 sq mi). The Naga Hills run through this tiny state that has Saramati as its highest peak at a height of concerning 12,600 ft. Dhansiri, Doyang, Dikhu and Jhanji are the rivers that flow through this state. The piece of land is mountainous, thickly wooded, and cut by deep river valleys. There’s a good variety of plant and animal life. Nagaland features a monsoon climate with usually high humidity; rain averages between 1800 to 2500 millimeter (70 to 100 inches) a year.

Nagaland features a single-chamber legislative assembly with sixty seats. The state sends 2 members to the Indian Parliament: one to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and one to the Lok Sabha (Lower House). There are seven government body districts – Mokokchung, Tuensang, Mon, Wokha, Zunheboto, Phek and Kohima.

The state is found between the 93°20′ E and 95°15′ E Longitudes and 25°6′ and 27°4′ N Latitudes. The whole area lined by the state is 16,579 sq. kilometer. Nagaland was declared the sixteenth state of the country of India on 1 December 1963. Before this, Nagaland accustomed is a union territory. The opposite attention-grabbing data about Nagaland is that it homes as several as sixteen totally different ethnic groups. These groups of individuals have their own separate cultural identities that embrace customs, dresses and languages. Nearly 90 % of the population of Nagaland is devout Christians. The state conjointly features a substantial Hindu people. Kohima, the capital city of the state, features a range of sites that should be visited by the tourists because it can facilitate them in obtaining an insight of the wealthy history place. The name ‘Kohima’ has been derived from the name of a plant known as ‘Kew Hi’ that thrives within the mountainous region. Kohima is a fascinating place, blessed with lots of natural beauty.

Nagaland has primarily an agricultural economy. An excellent ambition of the inhabitant is to possess a bumper harvest. One among the vital motivation behind the practice of head-hunting within the past was the assumption that it might guarantee a decent harvest.

A remarkable feature of economy is that there are not any traveller landlords and there’s no category of landless peasants. The village is so organized that the fundamental demand of food, clothing and shelter are certain to all the members. The population as a whole stay gainfully used in productive activities and there’s no surplus labour. Throughout the Kheti season, it becomes tough to induce employed labour and if in the least they’re out there, terribly high wages have to be compelled to be paid. There is, however, a system of providing communal labour by forming what are known as ‘field companies’ of men and women of a similar age bracket. Each member of the corporate gets the advantages of company’s labour by flip.

The major supply of revenue for the govt till recently has been the house-tax. Currently it’s supplemented by the sale return of forest merchandise and tax of urban commodities.

In social group area like Nagaland, the obstacles to economic development usually arise out of the prevailing physical, social and economic conditions. The physical condition relate to the mountainous terrain, dense forests and tough communications. The social obstacles are the people’s initial apathy to any quite innovation, lack of education and primitive strategies of production. The economic difficulties are the dearth of capital, absence of promoting centres, and similar alternative factors. To those it may additionally add the political condition arising out of the subversive activities of the underground Nagas. A planned effort in yet being created to avoid these bottlenecks and develop the area. Preliminary investigation were meted out by the National Council of Applied Economic analysis, and this was followed by an in depth examination of the techno-economic information.

In education and road building, the progress has been extraordinary. The urge for education has nowadays replaced the recent looking for heads. A woman could refuse to marry an uneducated man within the same manner as, in the earlier days; she refused to just accept a partner who had not taken one head. Within the field of education Nagaland isn’t thus developed. Even if there are educated individuals, they like white-collar employment. They hesitate to require agriculture as occupation. Hence, government has got to take steps to seek out appropriate employment opportunities for them.

There were hardly any motorable roads within the Naga Hills until Independence. Now, the whole road length is concerning 9,315 km. Dimapur is that the solely place wherever rail and air services are accessible. In road-building, the efforts of the government are adequately supplemented by the border roads task force. The roads cut by the border roads, between Kohima and Meluri, Mokokchung and Tuensang and Akhegwo and Tuensang are feats of engineering ability.

There has been a considerable enlargement of medical and public health facilities. To beat the shortage of doctors, the government has been granting liberal stipends to students finding out medication.

Water supply schemes have conjointly been undertaken in order that the women folks don’t have to be compelled to walk long distances for this basic necessity of life.

Forests being a crucial supply of revenue, measures are initiated to develop them. Forests space is split into 3 classes: Reserved forests, protected forests and personal forests. The proportion of forest space to the whole surface area is about 33rd. The forest department has established wild life sanctuaries, zoological park, and facility, forest coaching colleges and a seasoning and treatment plant.

Electricity has currently reached the interior villages from where darkness has been displaced. Nagaland was the primary state within the North-east to attain 100% rural electrification by 1988.

A department of geology and mining has come upon. In depth and intensive mineral survey and investigation show an encouraging image of the mineral potential of the state. The necessary minerals embrace top-grade rock, coal, copper, chromium, slate, oil and gas etc.

Social welfare has not been neglected. Schemes for the care of the mentally and physically incapacitated area unit being enforced. Some vocational education centres are started.

Economy of Nagaland presents a number of sectors that put together generate revenue for this north-eastern state of India. Agriculture is that the mainstay of Nagaland. The maximum amount as 70th of the overall population of Nagaland is engaged in farming activities. Terrace and jhum cultivation are the two ways by that crops are full-grown within the state of Nagaland.

 

The water system industry of Nagaland is another major section of the state that contributes considerably towards the expansion of the economy. Availability of water to numerous agricultural and industrial corners of Nagaland plays a significant role in enhancing the economic stability of the state.

 

Livestock is another key economic issue of Nagaland which has work, farming, livestock farming, farm and poultry. There are several industrial units in Nagaland that offer a significant boost to the economic development of the state. The medium scale industries of Nagaland that generate large quantity of revenue are placed in varied components of the state.

 

The state has stock of minerals too like that of coal, gas, nickel, ornamental stones, marble, cobalt-chromium bearing iron ore, petroleum, and so on. The banks placed in Nagaland are legendary to be a significant assistant in the economic progress of the state. The commercial enterprise trade of Nagaland is counted mutually of the prime contributors of economic improvement of the place. This can be as a result of with its made natural treasure Nagaland attracts thousands of tourists at intervals its premises around the year.

 

There is no denying the very fact that economy of Nagaland is the symbol of the progressive and speedily growing part of the state.

 

Agriculture in Nagaland is taken into account a major source of revenue for the state. Economy of Nagaland gets a significant boost through the agricultural activities of the state. Terrace and jhum cultivation area unit wide practiced by the social group communities of Nagaland. The crops that have a high yield within the state of Nagaland embrace rice, tobacco, oilseeds, pulses, fibers, potato and sugarcane. The native individuals of Nagaland earn their living by growing variety of crops in their fields.

 

One of the most important reasons behind the flourishing agricultural economy of Nagaland is that the developed state of irrigation within the place. The water channels that are controlled by bamboo sticks offer unrestrained irrigation facilities to the crop fields of Nagaland. Excluding major crops the farmers of Nagaland additionally turn out plantation crops like coffee, tea and cardamom.

 

Potato and sugarcane are the 2 prime cash crops that generate revenue for the Nagaland economy. Then there are several vegetables that are full-grown by the peasants of Nagaland like that of carrots, chillies, onion, melon, spinach leaf, cucumber, brinjal, tomatoes and mustard. Sugarcane, maize, yams, potato, millet and arums are considered because the principal crops of Nagaland state. The farmers of Nagaland grow their crops on the premise of the rain conditions within the place. Having an agri-climatic condition Nagaland is thought to possess high yield.

 

Since agriculture contributes considerably towards the economy of Nagaland therefore the govt. of the state is taking major initiatives to develop this specific field. From seed farms to irrigation comes the govt. is exploit no stones unturned to encourage the Nagaland agriculture.

 

The development trade in Nagaland has provided an impetus to the economic process of this north eastern state of India. The proliferation of enormous scale and medium scale industries has helped to lift the quality of living of the native inhabitants of Nagaland.

 

Endowed with ideal infrastructure, Nagaland supports many industries. a number of the renowned industries of the north eastern state of Nagaland are:

  • Bamboo connected industries like paper mills, plyboard factories etc.
  • Cottage industries like spinning, weaving, cane works etc.
  • Sugar mills
  • Oil factories

Some of the leading industrial organizations, process and producing plants in Nagaland are:

  • Nagaland plyboard Factory- placed within the district of Mon, the Nagaland plyboard manufacturing plant produces good quality plyboard
  • Nagaland Pulp and Paper Company restricted- The Nagaland Pulp and Paper Company Limited were supported in the year of 1971. Placed within the Mokokchung district of Nagaland, the corporate is known for rolling out glorious quality paper
  • Pineapple Fibre Plant- in the Baghty village of Wokha district of Nagaland, the Pineapple Fibre Plant is meant for manufacturing pineapple fibres.
  • Citronella Oil Industries- the Citronella Oil Industries is settled within the Mongsuyuyumi village of Mokokchung district of Nagaland. The trade is known for manufacturing Citronella oil
  • Nagaland Sugar Mill Company restricted- Nagaland Sugar Mill Company Limited was founded in the year of 1973. Settled in Dimapur of the district of Kohima, Nagaland Sugar Mill Company restricted is a renowned Public Sector of the state that produces sensible quality sugar
  • Fruit and Vegetable process Plant- the Fruit and Vegetable process Plant is supplied with all the fashionable machineries for process food
  • Mechanized Brick Plant- settled within the Tolumi village of Dimapur in Nagaland, the Mechanized Brick Plant is known for producing burnt bricks

The economy of Nagaland has received a lift from the event of many industries.

 

The commercial enterprise trade in Nagaland has vastly contributed to the economic strengthening of the north eastern state of India. The tourism trade of Nagaland helps the state to earn huge revenues.
Nagaland has several places of traveller interests that attract visitors throughout the year. A number of the notable traveller destinations of Nagaland are:

  • Japfu Peak- situated at an altitude of 130 foot, Japfu Peak offers the tourists with a beautiful chance to get pleasure from the natural splendor of the region
  • World war II burying ground- the world War II Cemetery of Nagaland reminds one among the fearless Indian and British soldier who fought with the Japanese troops throughout the Second World War
  • Kohima Village- Kohima Village offers the traveller with a novel scope to expertise the made ancient heritage of the state of Nagaland

The different social group cultural traditions of Nagaland create the north eastern state of India a lot of vibrant and enticing to tourists. The distinctive social customs and non secular ceremonies of the aboriginal tribes of Nagaland attract many tourists who are excited with the distinctive ancient heritage of the region that has percolated to the modern era from the traditional times.