The Northeast of India, once famed for its big cardamom, ginger and turmeric, is fast spreading its wings with black pepper beginning to take deep roots in places such as Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur. The yields are good and the farmers are excited about the prospects, says Akali Sema, professor of horticulture at the Nagaland University’s Medziphema campus.
She was in Kerala leading a group of 16 farmers from the Northeast visiting plantations, meeting local farmers and getting first-hand knowledge of what is happening in Kerala on the spices front. The programme was organised under the aegis of All India Spices Exporters’ Forum.
“We have a lot of takeaways from the visit. It has been an enriching experience,” says Dr. Sema. She says she has been involved with farmers and farming despite her busy academic schedule as traditional spice farmers in different States in the Northeast are eagerly shifting to crops such as black pepper.
“The farmers in Kerala are totally professional,” says Raha Tagin Tara from Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. He heads the Rapum Para Farmers’ Producer Organisation and the Rapum Para Vegetable Farmers’ Cooperative Society.
He says there are around 1,000 farmers in the collective, which undertook cultivation of crops such as ginger, turmeric, chilli as well as black pepper. Around 37 hectares are under black pepper and the production level is around a 1,000 tonnes, he said.
Even in the lower tracts of Sikkim, black pepper is making its mark, says Yadu Gautam of Rakdong Tintek Farmer Producer Organisation. Mr. Gautam says he has been working as a resource person and consultant on organic farming as Sikkim has been taking up organic cultivation on a large scale.
Awoyo Lungleng of Reang Luang Organic Farmer Producer Company says farmers under the collective have been taking up turmeric, green chilli and ginger cultivation. With farmers getting organized, they are able to better market their produce, he adds.
