Our Correspondent
Kohima | April 17
Nagaland State produced 21, 763 MT of spices during 2015-16, with the area used for cultivation of spices increased to 6, 578 hectares. Turmeric recorded the highest productivity with 15, 843 kg/hectare during 2015-16.
This was stated in the Nagaland Economic Survey 2016-17 tabled in the recent state assembly session here by Parliamentary Scretary for Economics & Statistics, Tovihoto Ayemi.
A variety of spices like Cardamom, Black Pepper, Turmeric and Naga chilly are grown in Nagaland. During 2014-15 the total area under spices was 5, 682 hectares achieving a production of 19, 765 MT.
Fruits and vegetables
Out of the over 20 items each of fruits and vegetables grown, bananas and pineapples are known to have the highest productivity in the state.
In 2015-16, the banana fruit recorded a productivity of 15, 091 kgs/hectare and pineapples recorded 13, 781 kgs/hectare, followed by papaya and jackfruit with a productivity of 12, 358 kgs/hectare and 12, 332 kgs/hectare respectively.
Among the vegetables, Tapioca recorded the highest productivity with 14, 897 kg/hectare, followed by carrot and chowchow with 11, 958 kgs/hectare and 11, 923 kgs/hectare respectively.
The total acreage under cultivation of fruits and vegetables increased by 23.18% and 30.66% respectively during the period 2011-12 to 2014-15, while the production during the same period measured a percentage increase of 84.65 % and 116.40 % respectively.
However, when the total area under fruits in 2015-16 showed an increase of 696 hectares over 2014-15, the total production showed a decline of 4, 287 MT. Similarly, the total area under vegetables showed an increase of 1, 636 hectares, and decrease in total production by 9, 723 MT during the same period.
Plantation crops
Meanwhile, the major plantation crops grown in Nagaland include Coconut, Arecanut, Cashewnut and Coffee. The total area under plantation crops was recorded at 4, 596 hectares in 2014-15. This increased to 4, 679 hectares in 2015-16. However, the production decreased during the same period by 269 MT.
