Our Correspondent
Kohima | February 27
Phek district is one of the agriculturally prosperous districts of Nagaland with scope for setting up of agro based and food processing industries.
Phek produces vegetable and fruits in large quantities, but poor quality of roads and connectivity problems hinder marketing of the produces. Thus, setting up of processing units of fruits and vegetables would lead to value addition and would lead to diversification of produce increasing the demand base, according to Human Resource Development report of Phek district.
It would result in employments as well as create a ready market for the agricultural produce, the report added. The district has variety of medicinal and aromatic plants with scope of producing of herbal medicines and extraction of essential oils for the cosmetic industry. However skilled labour, infrastructure, investment and research is required for realizing the potentials.
Agricultural sector in Phek district engages the highest proportion of total working population and is the largest user of land resource. The report said the main farming system is jhum cultivation, commonly known as shifting cultivation, practiced along with terrace cultivation on the hilly areas where mixed cropping pattern is followed during kharif season. In 2001, about 21,000 hectares was put under jhum cultivation, increasing the total area under jhum cultivation to more than 52,000 hectares in Phek district alone.
Report said the years of jhum cycle has been reduced considerably in recent years due to population pressure, resulting in low productivity. The state’s department of agriculture has crop zoned the district on the basic of the potentiality of the area. Pfutsero- vegetables, passion fruits and cardamom; Chozuba- passion fruit, tea, kholar and cardamom, Phek- tea, soyabean, kholar, cardamom and ginger and Meluri- ginger, maize.
