Professional Documents
Culture Documents
e-ISSN: 2319-2380, p-ISSN: 2319-2372. Volume 8, Issue 1 Ver. II (Jan. 2015), PP 41-49
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Division of Natural Resource Management, Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
2
Department of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Abstract: The Nicobarese were the largest tribal group inhabiting 12 islands with major concentration in Car
Nicobar. As there is no reliable information on the biophysical set up, socioeconomic and farming system
characteristics of these Islands, the study aims to derive baseline information on the above aspects, which is
essential for any planning process. The agricultural production in Nicobar Islands is mainly dictated by
rainfall. The soils are inherently acidic except in Car Nicobar and Katchal where neutral to calcareous soils
are found. The tribes are living in a social system called tuhet and have no individual land rights. Majority
(73.4%) of the household heads comes under active workforce with worker consumer ratio of about 60%. The
coconut is the predominant crop occupying 84% of the agricultural area. On an average 235 coconut trees were
owned by an individual household with values ranging from 10 to 1000. The major livestock were pig (82%)
and goat (18%) reared in an extensive open semi feral system. The average annual income from farm
enterprises is INR.103345 ($1694) majority comes from coconut. The average family expenditure is INR.76692
($1257) with major expenses on food (54%), religious ceremonies, and childrens marriage besides household
and personal maintenance including health cost. Remoteness and isolation, monopoly in copra marketing, tuhet
system insisting sharing some part of income, lack of knowledge on scientific management of crops like
vegetables, lack of enough native breeds of livestock were the major constraints for improving farm production
in these Islands.
Keywords: Farming systems, Tuhet, Constraints, Nicobari tribes, Nicobari fowl, Nicobari pig.
I.
Introduction
The Nicobar group of Islands is home to two tribes of Indo-Mongloid origins. Out of these two the
Nicobarese are the largest tribal group inhabiting 12 Islands with major concentration in Car Nicobar. They
were the last indigenous people to arrive on these Islands and have racial mixture with the natives of South East
Asia [1]. Unlike other tribal groups, they have much greater contact with the outside world and socially and
economically more developed than any other tribal groups in Andaman and Nicobar Islands [2]. To overcome
the problem of over population of tribes in Car Nicobar, 165 families were shifted to Harminder Bay in Little
Andaman in 1973. Therefore at present these tribal groups were found in Nicobar group of Islands as well as in
Harminder Bay in Little Andaman.
The information about the communities, institutions, major economic and demographic trends affecting
a community or an area is critical in planning and implementation of any effort whether at the global or regional
level [3]. Similarly biophysical and economic information is helpful in assessing the resource availability, their
consumption pattern, sources of income and employment opportunities besides the general level of economic
prosperity of the region or the targeted population. Land use and development trends indicate the place and
phase of development, and suggest factors which may influence those development trends. All this information
is helpful in planning a successful development programs in the targeted areas.
However, farmers land management practices are actually influenced by many factors such as
availability of natural, human, technological and capital resources, biophysical and socioeconomic constraints
besides policy environment including land rights, land tenure, subsidies, taxes, commodity prices, and
transportation and marketing opportunities [4]. Devising strategies for promotion of land use practices
necessitates knowledge on factors comprising biophysical settings, socioeconomic characteristics and
institutional characteristics of farmers. As there is no such information on the tribal farmers of Nicobar Island
the present study focuses (i) to examine the existing biophysical characteristics of Nicobar group of Islands, (ii)
to analyse socio-economic characteristics of existing farming systems; and (iii) to identify the constraints for
adoption of new technologies to help in planning any agricultural development programs in the study area.
DOI: 10.9790/2380-08124149
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DOI: 10.9790/2380-08124149
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III.
Results
pH
EC (dS m-1)
O.C (%)
7.1
5.3
7.3
5.2
8.1
0.06
0.07
0.11
0.12
0.21
2.03
2.09
1.79
1.72
1.13
K
0.105
0.105
0.109
0.113
0.108
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Percent (%)
Cumulative frequency
88.1
11.9
288
327
4.6
46.8
77.1
82.6
55.1
24.8
15
66
150
240
300
327
10.1
52.3
33.0
3.7
0.9
33
204
312
324
327
20.2
18.4
49.5
11.9
66
126
288
327
Mean
-
47.8
5.9
6.4
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Category
Marginal
Small
Medium
Large
Frequency
105
102
102
18
Percent
32.1
31.2
31.2
05.5
Mean holding
68
188
371
685
The average number of coconut trees owned by a large farmer is 10 times higher than the marginal
holders indicating a relatively high inequality in distribution of land in terms of ownership of coconut trees.
However, 5.5% of the households have more than 500 coconut trees and no significant difference in average
holding size was found across the Islands (Table 4). However, in Katchal mean holding of coconut trees (342)
exceeded the overall mean due to loss of lives during tsunami 2004. Apart from coconut, areca nut was also
grown by tribal households except in Hut Bay and no significant differences were found across the Islands.
Table 4: Average holding of coconut trees across the Islands
Name of Island
Coconut
Katchal
Kamorta
Nancowry
Hut Bay
Car Nicobar
Mean (p< 0.05)
#
DOI: 10.9790/2380-08124149
Frequency
Percent (%)
Cumulative frequency
Mean
78
195
36
15
03
23.9
59.6
11.0
4.6
0.9
78
273
309
324
327
4.3
204
39
54
24
06
62.4
11.9
16.5
07.3
01.8
204
243
297
321
327
4.6
84
168
57
15
03
25.7
51.4
17.4
04.6
0.9
84
252
309
324
327
12.2
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Pig (%)
100.0
11.1
70.0
80.0
83.3
76.6
Herd size
5.5
3.0#
2.3
4.8
4.2
4.3NS
Goat (%)
70.0
11.1
0.0
25.0
45.0
37.6
Herd size
4.5
6.0#
0.0#
3.0
4.6
4.6NS
Poultry (%)
90.0
88.9
70.0
20.0
91.7
75.2
Flock Size
7.6b
32.8a
7.2b
0.65c
8.9b
12.03
Minimum
maximum
Mean
S.D
Household
size
Coconut
(Nos)
Areca nut
(Nos)
Pig
(heads)
Goat
(heads)
Poultry
(heads)
16
5.9
2.3
%
household
-
10
1000
235
179
100
1000
38
110
36
30
3.3
4.2
76
15
1.7
3.0
38
150
16
41
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IV.
Discussion
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V.
Conclusion
The present study in tribal Islands of Nicobar clearly indicated that the agricultural production in these
Islands is limited by biophysical factors such as rainfall, soil and water resources besides government policy on
land use. The socio economic characterization indicated that majority of the households were headed by men
and majority of them are in active workforce where the average age was only 47.8 years. The literacy level of
the tribal areas of Nicobar was far better than other tribes of the country. There was no individual land right as
in other parts of the country and only usufructary rights were given to the individual households which was
acting as a major constraint for taking up any initiatives in agriculture or in any activity.
The coconut cultivation played an important role in agricultural production of these islands and
contributed 80 % of farm income. Besides production of copra it was also used as animal feed especially for
pigs to the extent of 21%. Pig and poultry were the two traditional farm activities and were indigenous to the
tribes. Though pig is considered as a family asset and indicates the social status of households in the tribal
society, only 76.6% households were rearing pig with mean herd size of 4.3 in open ranch system without
scientific care and business intention. Similarly poultry was not developed as an economic activity and it was
only a family poultry with small number of indigenous birds reared by women in backyards. In recent times goat
rearing was gaining momentum and preferred by tribes as indicated by many of the tribal captains.
The sale of copra was the major source of income for majority of the households though 29.4% of
households have income from nonfarm activities like government service. Other than food, religious ceremonies
and childrens marriage accounted for 26% of total household expenditure. The expenditure on education was
nil as free education is imparted to children up to secondary level by government and no private players were
allowed in educational sector in these islands unlike in other parts of the country.
Remoteness and restrictions on land use were considered as a major impediment for adoption of new
technologies by all the respondents. The other major constrains identified were tuhet system insisting sharing
some part of income, lack of enough native breeds of animals and lack of knowledge on scientific management
of farm enterprises. Besides nil or limited market for agricultural products was also identified as a major
constraint for improving farm production in these Islands.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Director, IIFSR, Modipuram for providing financial support and all the staff of KVK, Nicobar for
their support during field survey.
References
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DOI: 10.9790/2380-08124149
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