AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is the main occupation of the people and along with the allied occupations it accounts for 63 percent of the states work force. Rice is the staple diet of the people and cultivation of rice is the main occupation of those engaged in agriculture. Different pulses, jute, tea and fruit cultivation are the other agricultural crops. Sugarcane, potatoes, cotton, oil seeds, coconut and arecanut cultivation is also practiced on a substantial scale apart from the horticulture. But 67 percent of the gross cropped area is taken up by rice cultivation, of this about 67 percent again is taken up for the cultivation of Sali paddy on about 16-17 lakh hectares of land. Both the centre and the state are engaged in giving agriculture a big thrust and a second green revolution is to be brought about in the north east. Jhum cultivation or shifting cultivation, under which the tribal farmers burn selected areas of forest land and use it for cultivation in a cyclic period, is a problem in Assam. Confined to its two hill districts which are inhabited by tribal people, efforts are being constantly made to wean the people away from this rather expensive form of cultivation.

Among fruit crops, Assam has oranges and other citrus fruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples and mangoes. There are extensive plans to expand the cultivation of these fruit products and market them to bring greater benefits to the farmers. The gross cropped area in the state is about 35 lakh hectares out of which rice cultivation alone accounts for 26 lakhs. Forests are an important part of Assam‘s economy. Timber is a major product of the states extensive forests and bamboo is another product, bringing Assam substantial revenue and adding to its wealth. Assam is rightly known for its excellent tea which is one of the major cash crops . About 15 percent of the world‘s total output of tea comes from the tea gardens of Assam, which provide employment to more than a million people. More than half of that in direct form in the tea gardens and factories turning green leaves into dry tea for home and hotel consumption. Tea cultivation occupies a little less than a tenth of the cultivated area of Assam and 75 percent of the tea gardens are located in the Brahmaputra districts of Darrang, Sibsagar and Lakhimpur. Cachar district accounts for 20 percent of the balance and the remaining 5 percent being accounted by the lower Brahmaputra valley. Guwahati centre in Assam has become the biggest centre of auction of CTC tea in the world.

INDUSTRY
Assam is an important producer of silk of different kinds and known for weaving of silk products into saris and fabrics. Production of tusser and other silks and weaving of fabrics is an important occupation for a number of people. Other types of industries are food products, wood and wood products, chemicals and chemical products, non-metallic mineral products. Tea and oil are of prime importance to Assam‘s economy and also plays a significant role in the economy and life of the state. At Digboy on the border with Burma, Assam has the oldest Indian oil venture and one of the oldest in the world.

Mining
In Assam, mining is at present concentrated mainly to four industrial minerals, namely, coal, oil and gas, limestone and sillimanite. The history of coal mining in Assam goes back to the year 1834 when extraction of this mineral on a small scale was being carried out at Cherapunji in upper Assam. Coal was first mined in 1840 near Jaipur by the Assam Tea Co. But the most important phase in the development of the coal mining industry in Assam was the incorporation of the Assam Railway and Trading Co. in 1882 for the exploitation of the upper Assam coal. The most important coal mines in Assam are situated in the Ledo and Jaipur areas of upper Assam. In the Mikir hills, two small collieries exist -one at Koilajan and other at Seelbhata. The coal mining activity in the Khasi hills is mostly concentrated around the Laitryngew area. In addition to these small collieries, three mines exist in the Khasi hills. Messrs Thanginath colliery and the Mawsynram colliery are important among them. A small coal mine has been developed at Nangwalbibra in the west Darranggiri Coalfield in the Garo hills under the auspices of the ASMDC, a state government under taking. Petroleum mining is an outstanding feature of Assami‘s industrial landscape. Its exploration and development in the state are carried out by the oil and natural gas commission, Oil India Limited and Assam oil company. The discovery of the first oilfield, the Digboy field, goes back to the year 1889. The outstanding work of the BOC in upper Assam has culminated in the discovery of the Nakarkatiya (1953)and Moran (1950) fields which are now developed by the OIL company. Limestone mining in Assam is confined to surface quarrying. Regular mining activities have been started since 1938 in Therriaghat area in Khasi Hills. Sillimanite has been known to occur at Sonapahar since 1922. In addition to these major minerals , minor minerals such as gravel, sand, building stone and ballast are produced at present at various places in the state.

ECONOMIC MINERALS - Coal | Oil and Natural Gas | Limestone | Sillimanite | Clay | Glass Sands | Iron Ore | Copper | Felspar | Gold | Gypsum

Assam is endowed with vast mineral resources. The major minerals like coal, oil and gas, limestone, dolomite, sillimanite and corundum, iron ore, felspar, glass-sand, refractory and fire clays, kaolin, beryl, gypsum, pyrite, vermiculite, salt, copper, gold etc. have been reported to occur in the state. The most important minerals being exploited so far in Assam are coal, oil and gas, limestone and sillimanite.

Coal
In Assam, coal occurs in Garo hills, Khasi and Jaintai hills, Mikir hills, Jaipur and Makum. The tertiary coals of Assam are remarkably low in ash but high in sulphur. Assam coal is being consumed at present by the railways, iron and brass foundries, brick kilns, inland water steamer services, tea gardens and other industries in addition to household consumption. Apart from its general uses, Assam coal is eminently suitable for the manufacture of coal distillation products.

Oil and Natural Gas
The oil producing areas of Assam lie in the upper Assam valley and are geologically confined to the Tertiary Strata - mainly Oligocene. Assam is first state in the country where oil was struck in 1889 at Digboy. At present oil is being tapped at two areas - the Digboy and the Naharkotiya and Moran fields. Two more refineries of considerable size have come up in the public sector at Gauhati and Barauni and the third with a petrochemical complex is under way. A new refinery, Numaligarh refinery (3m. tones capacity) was commissioned on July 9, 1999. The availability of associated natural gas is dependent on the extraction of crude oil. Vast quantities of natural gas are being produced along with the production of crude oil. Only two projects under the "utilization of natural gas scheme" have so far come up in the state. These are the thermal power plant and the fertilizer factory at Namrup.

Limestone
The high-grade fossil limestone or ‘nummulitic‘ limestone deposits of Assam are geologically known as ‘Syket limestone‘ as these belong to that groups of rocks. The limestone deposits are confined in areas of Garo hills, united Khasi and Jaintia hills, Cachar hills and Mikir hills. One of the largest outcrops of limestone is at the foot of the Khasi hills. Vast deposits of high-grade limestone are best observed in the Jowai area. Lime stones of the Khasi and Jaintia hills can be used for manufacture of cement and for lime-burning purposes. It can be used in chemical industries and for metallurgical purposes. The limestone deposits of the state offer vast scope for developing innumerable industries where limestone is required.

Sillimanite
The sillimanite deposits of the Nongstoin state in the Khasi hills are world famous from the point of view of quantity and purity of the mineral. Assam is the major producer of this mineral in India and contributes more than 90% of the total production. Corundum is found to occur in association with the sillimanite deposits. Low-grade ‘quartz-sillimanite schists‘ also occur in the same area.

Clay
Assam is endowed with fairly large reserves of sedimentary white clays as well as Kaolin or ‘China clay‘, which forms an important basic raw material for ceramic or refractory industries. These Clays are found to occur at many places in the Garo hills, Khasi and Jaintia hills and the Mikir hills. This clay is quite suitable for the manufacture of medium to low-grade white wares and other ceramic products like stoneware pipes, sanitary ware, glazed tiles and bricks. The Kaolin deposit near Mawphlang is found to be as good as the Kaolin of corn wall.

Glass Sands
Deposits of fine-grained, white friable sandstones has been located in the coalfields of the Laitryngew and Cherapunji areas. The friable quartzite of the Shilllong series around shillong and the Tura sandstones of the Garo hills are suitable for manufacture of sheet glass and fruit glass after washing.

Iron Ore
Occurrence of banded-iron ore have been located in the Chanderdinga hills and Abhayapuri areas in Goalpara district and in the Aradanga-Rangchapara areas on the border of the Kamrup and Khasi and Jaintia hills districts.

Copper
Copper minerals occur in the Umpyrtha and Ranighat areas in the Khasi and Jaintia hills and also in the Mahamaya hills in Goalpara district.

Felspar
Felspar is a common mineral found to occur in association with granites. Recently workable felspar deposits have been recorded near the Hahim area in Kamrup district.

Gold
Gold is reported to occur in sands, gravels and alluvial terraces along some of the rivers in the Lakhimpur, Sibsagar and Darrang districts of Assam.

A gold-bearing rock was located at a place about 5 miles southwest of Mawphlang.

Gypsum
Gypsum in the form of selenite crystals and disseminated in shale beds occur at Mahendraganj in the Garo hills and at a few places in the Mikir hills.