Meghalaya - Region Profile

Meghalaya is a state in the north-east India and means "the abode of clouds" in Sanskrit and other Indo-Iranian languages. As of 2011, the state has a population of 2.96 million and is the 23rd most populous in the country. Meghalaya covers an area of approximately 2.2 million hectares. This state is surrounded in the north by Assam and by Bangladesh in its south. Meghalaya is basically an agricultural state with about 80% of its population depending entirely on agriculture for their livelihood. Nearly 10% of the geographical area of Meghalaya is under cultivation. Rice is the dominant food grain crop accounting for over 80% of the food grain production in the state. Other important food grain crops are maize, wheat, other cereals and pulses. Besides the major food crops of rice and maize, the state is renowned for its horticultural crops like orange, lemon, pineapple, guava, litchi, banana, jack fruit and temperate fruits such as plum, pear, peach etc. Table 1 illustrates the current area, productivity and production statistics of major crops in Meghalaya.



Nutrient consumption in Meghalaya in the past decade is given in Fig. 2. Total fertilizer nutrient consumption in the state of Meghalaya increased from 4.76 thousand MT during 2011-12 to 4.85 thousand MT in 2012-13. The nutrient consumption ratio for N, P₂O₅ and K₂O was 14.9:5.6:1 in the year 2011-12 as over 10.1:3.0:1 in the year 2012-13. The total consumption of plant nutrients per unit of gross cropped area was 14.1 kg/ha in 2011-12 which increased to 31.1 kg/ha in 2012-13. Using the area and production of major crops, the total nutrient (N, P₂O₅ and K₂O) removal by each crop was calculated and a nutrient balance sheet was prepared (table 2).

Table 1: Latest Crop Production Statistics of Meghalaya -2012-13

Parameters	Rice	Wheat	Maize	Total Cereals	Gram	Total Pulses	Total Foodgrains	Total Oilseeds	Sugarcane	Jute#
Area	109.2	0.4	17.3	129.1	0.5	3.6	132.7	10	0.1	3.9
Production	232	0.7	26.9	261.3	0.3	3.7	265	6.9	0.2	34.8
Productivity	2125	1806	1554	2024	611	1019	1997	695	2676	1608

Area ('000 ha); Production ('000 tonnes); Productivity (kg/ha); # Production and Productivity in 1000 bales of 180 kg each

Table 2: Nutrient balance sheet for major crops of Meghalaya (2012-13)

Crop	Area (in '000 ha)	Production (in '000 tonnes)	Nutrient Removal (kg/tonne)			Total Removal (tonnes)
			N	P2O5	K2O	N	P2O5	K2O
Rice	109.2	232	20.1	11.2	30	4663.2	2598.4	6960
Wheat	0.4	0.7	24.4	8.6	32.8	17.08	6.02	22.96
Maize	17.3	26.9	8.2	3.1	15.5	220.58	83.39	416.95
Total Pulses	3.6	3.7	40	5	20	148	18.5	74
Total Oilseeds	10	6.9	54	14	46	372.6	96.6	317.4
Sugarcane	0.1	0.2	1.7	0.2	2	0.34	0.04	0.4
		Total removal by major crops				6239.6	3255.35	9242.87
		Total fertilizer consumption in Meghalaya				3360	1150	340
		Consumption * Efficiency factor				1344	345	238
		Balance/Deficit				-4895.6	-2910.35	-9004.87

Efficiency of N=40%; P2O5= 30%; and K2O=70%

*Crop production and fertilizer use data are retrieved from Fertiliser Statistics, 2013-14, The Fertiliser Association of India, New Delhi