DEVELOPMENTOF TEA-HORTICULTURE-SPICES CROPMODEL: An Approach for Higher Income and Employment Generation for Small Tea Growers

Abstract

An attempt has been made to develop five tea crop models i.e (1) Tea + Siris + Black pepper + Turmeric (2) Tea + Sapota + Turmeric (3) Tea +Guava + Turmeric, (4) Tea + Amla + Turmeric and (5) Tea + Sandal wood + Turmeric in research farm of Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. Fruits crops like Sapota, Guava, Amla and non fruit crops Siris and sandal wood were used as shade tree in a intercropping system. Black pepper and Turmeric were grown as companion crops for generating higher income from unit land resource. Findings on yield and gross income showed compatibility of tea when grown with fruits and spices. Guava, Sapota and Black pepper have shown promise generating faster income than Amla during the reporting years from2002-2007. There was added advantages in generating additional gross income ranging from 54% to 115% over the income from tea alone. Such crop model would be useful for small tea growers for generation of higher employment and income.