Islands zone : Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Abstract

The Islands of Andaman & Nicobar is located 1200 km East of mainland India in the Bay of Bengal and falls under hot humid to perhumid Islands eco-regions which is rich in biodiversity and suitable for wide variety of crop plants. But the land area available for cultivation is only 50,000 ha and in general, the level of inorganic input use in agriculture is minimal and the entire Nicobar Islands is organic by default. It is estimated that plantations and spices are grown in about 11,500 ha area organically for which the Islands administration is making efforts to certify them. These organic products such as coconut, pepper, cinnamon, clove, banana etc. though uncertified goes to the local consumption market and to a limited extent to tourism sector