**1.1 Agro-climatic and physio-graphic condition of the region**

The North East Hill (NEH) Region comprising the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, is lying between 21.57° to 29.30° North latitude and 88° to 97.30° East longitude representing a distinct agro-climatic area of the country. The region is having a total geographical area of 262185 Sq. km and it has international border with China in the north, Myanmar in the East, Bhutan in the North West and Bangladesh in the South Western part [3].

The NEH Region is divided into three geographic regions:


These broad geographical regions show a wide diversity of climate due to altitudinal, physiographical and edaphic factors contributing to the diversity of agricultural crops as well as agricultural activities of the people [4]. The broad geographical regions of the North Eastern Hill States is given in **Table 1**.

The variation in the agro-climatic condition is due to its location and topography of this region. Being the hilly zone intercepted by small valley areas in between the hills and its position in the latitude and longitude pinning in the Sub-tropical areas, existence of these wide variation is the outcome. Although the agro-climatic zones show distinct differences in agro-climatic characteristics, it was difficult to draw a clear line of demarcation between two zones. However, to cater the specific needs of agriculture in these zones, the above delineation would serve the purpose and cover the maximum proportion of land, water, climatic conditions existing in the entire NEH Region.
