Mechanization status and energy requirement for growing major fruit crops in Neh region

Citrus, pineapple, banana and jack fruits are major traditional fruit crops grown in the north eastern region of India. Based on the agro-climatic suitability of the crop, these crops are grown in different parts of the region. Citrus is preferred as homestead crop while pineapple is grown on small and large plots on hill slopes. Considering the concentration of crops, twenty six (26) representative villages were selected for studying the cultural practices and status of their mechanization level in the region. A random sample of 10 farmers was selected from each village. It was observed that most of the fruit crops are planted in the month of May–June except pineapple which is planted in January. In first year of plantation, due care is taken in most of the crops while in subsequent years only fertilizer/FYM application, weeding and harvesting is done. Most of the cultural operations are done manually with the help of local/traditional hand tools and implements like dao (chopper) for jungle clearing, sucker preparation, spade for earthing, digging, small hand hoe for weeding and conical bamboo basket for transportation. The labour requirement for land preparation, planting, weeding and harvesting was found to be 50–70, 25–30, 40–60 and 70–100 man-days/ha respectively. The Annual energy requirement for raising citrus, pineapple and banana were 4069, 5507 and 5674 MH/ha, respectively. The poor marketing and post harvest processing facilities of fruits resulted in low remuneration to the farmers and consequent distress selling of products.