2024, Vol. 7, Special Issue 5

author(s)
Sanchita Brahma, Lolesh Pegu, Padminee Das, Karishma Das, Pranamika Sharma and Barnali Saikia

abstract
The North Eastern Region comprising of states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, and Nagaland has drawn special attention on the global map due to the quality of organic spices, and spices occupies special recognition and has global demand among the many unique products and features of the region. The region is by default organic in nature and the climatic condition is highly suitable for cultivating a large number of spices like ginger coriander, turmeric, garlic, chilli, bay leaf, cardamom, etc. Among the NER, Assam state is also a major producer of spices like ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, chilli, mustard, etc. Turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn.) and chilli (Capsicum annum L.) are one of the most popular spice crops in Kokrajhar district of Assam. Kokrajhar district is treated as organic by default and every household is intimately associated with the cultivation of turmeric and chilli. A study on the assessment of organic cultivation of turmeric and chilli under different organic sources of nutrients and farmer’s practice was carried out with 120 numbers of farmers in Kokrajhar, Dotma, and Gossaigaon blocks of Kokrajhar district of Assam during 2022-2023. In the identified blocks few farmers use different combinations of organic manures viz., FYM, vermicompost neem cake, etc. whereas some farmers cultivate the crops without any organic or inorganic input (absolute control). chilli (var. Surjyamukhi) performed better with organic input in terms of growth, and yield (16.0 q ha^-1) compared to absolute control (11.2 q ha^-1). Similarly organic turmeric (var. Megha Turmeric-1) cultivation also recorded better performance under combined application of organic inputs viz., vermicompost, neem cake, and FYM in terms of growth as well as rhizome yield (36.50 t ha^-1) compared to absolute control (26.55 t ha^-1).