Prospects ofOrganic Coffee Cultivationin North East Region of India

摘要

India's North East Region stretches from the foothills of the Himalayas in the eastern part of the country and is surrounded by Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Nepal and Myanmar. It consists of eight states - Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. The total geographical area of the region is about 26 million hectare with a population of 39.04 million (2011 census) representing 8 and 3.8 percent of the total area and population of the country, respectively. About 70% of the geographical area of NER is hilly and mountainous. The region is characterised by high rainfall, high humidity, wide variation in slopes (0-100%) and altitude (0 to 5000 m MSL). The altitude differences coupled with varied physiography contribute to great climatic variations in the region from tropical to alpine. The mean annual rainfall received is around 2000 mm. Agricultural production system is mostly rain fed, mono-cropped and at subsistence level.Use of local varieties, low consumption of chemicals, low moisture retention capacity of upland soil, no drainage in valley land during monsoon and lack of irrigation facilities during winter months, low temperature, low sunshine hours along with traditional management practices have resulted into low productivity of crops and low cropping intensity in the region. Problems of high rainfall, soil acidity (pH 4.5 to 6.5), aluminium toxicity in upland and iron toxicity in valley land have added to the problem of low agricultural productivity in the region.