State specific crop/animal species for higher productivity in NE
- Part 4 -

Angad Prasad / Indira Sarangthem / Daya Ram *

6. TRIPURA

Tripura, one of the north-eastern states, is bounded on the north, west, south and southeast by Bangladesh, whereas in the east, it shares a common boundary with Assam and Mizoram. The state has favourable climatic conditions for cultivation of various fruits and horticultural crops. It is rich in natural resources such as natural gas, rubber, tea and medicinal plants.

Tripura is endowed with rich and diverse bamboo resources. It is also the second largest natural rubber producer in the country after Kerala and produced 37,277 million tonnes of rubber in the year 2015. Tripura accounts for about 6 per cent of bamboo sticks, used for making incense sticks in India.

The good agro-climatic conditions, deep fertile soils, subtropical humid climate with abundance of rainfall offer tremendous scope for development of the Horticulture sector in the State. The State has favourable climatic conditions for cultivating various fruit and horticultural crops including rice, jackfruit, pineapple, potato, sugarcane, chilli and natural rubber.

Although, rice is the major crop of the State and cultivated in 91 per cent of the cropped area, but only two major crop/farm component have been indicated herein to suffice the purpose of writing the article:

6.1 Rubber:

Tripura is the second largest rubber producer in India after Kerala with 72,000 hectares of land under plantation, producing 40,000 tonnes of rubber annually. Tripura’s annual turnover from rubber cultivation is about Rs. 480 crore. India’s second industrial rubber park has come up in Tripura’s Bodhungnagar area to boost the polymer industry.

The park, a joint venture between the Tripura Industrial Development Corporation and the Rubber Board, is the second of its kind in the country after the rubber park in Kerala’s Irapuram. To increase the livelihood of poor people and small holders, rubber can be cultivated with tea, pineapple, banana and other crops.

Nearly 450 plants can be planted in one ha. Average yield per rubber tree is 9.52 kg. The total yield from the plantation is approximately 4284 kg (from 450 plants). Income from the plantation is Rs 2, 57,040.00. Profit generated in the 7th year of planting is (Rs, 2, 57,040 – Rs. 1, 06,754.00) = Rs 1, 50,286.00. From a rubber plant, long term (25 years) continuous return can be obtained.

There are less pest and disease incidences, therefore, it may be one of the best sources of livelihood in the State of Tripura.

6.2 Fisheries:

More than ninety five percent people of Tripura are fish eater. The fishery resources of Tripura are diverse in the form of ponds, lakes, mini-barrages, reservoirs, rivers etc. Generally, a minimum of Rs. 50,000 per acre (excluding the price of land) of capital investment is required to complete a pond for stocking. Despite available resources, the State has a long way to go to achieve self-sufficiency in fish production.

As per the statistics of the Department of Fisheries, Tripura, an area of 23,477 ha presently being utilized for fish production, which is insufficient to meet the demands. Importing fish of about 11,886 tons a year from other states, mainly Andhra Pradesh and even from the neighbouring country of Bangladesh, indicated the large demand-supply gap.

The per capita gap between fish production and consumption of 3.26 kg every year has presented a unique opportunity for the State as well as entrepreneurs to develop fish farming and improve the livelihoods of fish farmers.

Aquaculture is more women friendly and several of the activities like fertilization, feeding, marketing of fish etc. are best done and managed by women. This is an area where major changes can be brought to farming by involving and empowering women on a massive scale.

7. NAGALAND

Nagaland a state in north eastern India is bordered by the state of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, AQssam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Nagaland’s capital city is Kohima and its largest city is Dimapur. It has an area of 16,579 km2 with a population of 1,980,602 as per the 2011 Census of India, making it one of the smallest states of India.

Viewing the agro-climatic conditions, cultural pattern and demand of the day, following two farm produce are discussed here for attracting rural youth and adopt these activities to make them as a source of livelihood:

7.1 Pig:

Animal husbandry is a tradition with the Nagas and therefore, rearing domestic animals such as cattle, mithun, pig and poultry birds play a significant role in the socio-economic development of the Nagas. The State is largely agrarian and backyard pig keeping is an integral part of Naga livelihoods and culture.

Pigs account for more than 55 per cent of the total livestock population in the area and the State has the highest per capita consumption of pork in India. Pig farmers in Naga tend to use a cropping system to raise pigs. Since many producers do not have easy access to veterinary care, they rely on traditional management practices and indigenous tribal knowledge (ITK) to raise pigs.

Producers are also dependent on locally available food and food waste to feed the pigs. Individual piggeries tend to be small and prioritise fattening over breeding, leading to low productivity measures.

There is high demand for pork in the State. As the per capita consumption of pork is highest in Nagaland and availability of pork is less, therefore, there is ready made market for the same. The price of a two month old piglet ranges from Rs. 3,500-4,500 depending upon the place. Purchasing of piglets and adult animal is done directly from farms due to huge demand.

The pig has the highest feed conversion efficiency except broilers i.e., they produce more live weight gain from a given weight of feed. Dressing percentage in pig meat is 65-80% and in NEH region, tribal people consume every part of pig except bone. The pig can utilise wide variety of feed stuffs viz., grains, forages, damaged feeds and garbage and convert them into valuable nutritious meat.

Pig farming provides quick returns since the marketable weight of fatteners can be achieved within a period of 8-9 months. Pigs are highly prolific with shorter generation interval. This is the only food animal which is litter bearing.

A female pig can be bred as early as 8-9 months of age and can farrow twice in a year. Average piglets weaned per sow per year are 22-26. Economically productive life of a pig is five to six year in which it can farrow eight to ten times.

Generally, a pig is sold @Rs. 15,000 – 20,000/- and its rearing cost is very less, which calls youth to adopt pig farming for their livelihood.

7.2 King chilli:

The Naga King Chilli (Capsicum Chinese Jacq) is one of the hottest chillies in the world. This chilli is native to the north eastern region of India and subsequently the geographical indication (GI) of goods tag for this chilli has been obtained by the Nagaland State Government.

The stage of maturity at which chillies are picked depends on the type and purpose for which they are grown. Flowering begins 40-60 DAT (Days after Transplanting). First harvesting is done at the green stage to stimulate further flush of flowering and fruit set. Chillies are harvested at red stage for canning purpose.

Chillies used for drying are picked at fully ripened red stage and it takes another month for dry chillies. Thereafter ripe fruits are picked at intervals of 1-2 weeks and harvesting continues over a period of 3 months with 6-8 pickings depending on season, variety and cultural practices.

Generally the yield of fresh green chillies to 3 to 4 times higher than that of dry chillies. 100 kg of fresh ripe fruits yields 25-30 kg dry chillies depending on the variety.

If, scientific package of practices is followed, we can get yield of king chilli as 10 – 15 q/ha dry pods – in rain fed conditions and 20 –25 q/ha dry pods in irrigated conditions. Chillies are perishable having 70-80% moisture content but for safe storage, moisture should 10%. The chillies are dried under the sun on cement floor for a period of 10- 15 days depending on weather conditions.

Excessive delay in drying results in growth of microflora and subsequent loss in quality. Commercially it is dried it is dried at about 540C for 2 to 3 days. The dried fruits can be transported or stored in gunny bags.

Chillies are sold in fresh condition soon after picking. Green chillies may be kept under good condition for about 40 days at 320F and 95% R.H. The dried chillies can be stored in dry places or warehouses or stores safely for 5 to 6 months or more when they are well protected from insect pests.

To be continued...

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