Crop Based Livelihood Activities of Pineapple Growers and Constraints in its Cultivation: A Study in North Eastern Himalayan Region, India

The present study was an attempt to explore the different Crop based livelihood activities maintained by pineapple growers of Arunachal Pradesh and also to identify the constraints experience by them in pineapple cultivation in NEHR, India. A total of 100 pineapple growers were taken from 4 villages of one selected block of the West Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh. The result indicates that 19 per cent of respondents were under the category of above 59 years of age and the average age of the respondents was 49 years. Around 40 per cent of the respondents were illiterate, and only 6 per cent of the respondents had received education up to class 12. The mean household size was six persons/family. Pineapple cultivation was carried out as a primary and secondary occupation by 96 per cent and 4 per cent of the respondents, respectively. The mean experience under pineapple cultivation was 20 years and the mean size of landholding was 11.613 acres. About 98 per cent of the respondents had allocated a small area of land (2.51- 5 Acres) for pineapple. Around, 46 per cent of the respondents were growing five different crops for their livelihood, followed by 22, 21 and 3 per cent were growing four, three and six crops, respectively. Apart from the pineapple cultivation, 98 per cent and 71 per cent of the respondents were continuing rice and orange cultivation as crop-based livelihood activities. The mean annual income of respondents from pineapple cultivation and crop-based livelihood activities were Rs. 91,938 and Rs. 1,36,097, respectively. Further, pineapple cultivation had contributed around 67.5 per cent of the annual income from crop-based livelihood activities. Thus, it can be concluded that pineapple growers of the study area were earning remarkably from pineapple cultivation as well as from crop-based livelihood activities. Further, farmers in the study area were encountering constraints, like, lack of storage facility, poor road condition, lack of transportation, etc.