Ngopa village is in the north-eastern part of Mizoram at a coordinate of latitude 23°53’10”N, 93°12’43”E longitude. Ngopa is a village of 1060 houses with a population of 4608 individuals. It is an agricultural village and farming is their major source of income.

Agricultural practises

About 380 families are engaged in Jhum cultivation. The area under jhum cultivation is approximately 760 acre. Rice is the major crop in the hills. After harvesting of rice, ginger, brinjal, samtawk etc. are usually grown in the hilly farms. The   village also has about 121 acres of land used for Wet Rice Cultivation (WRC). The agricultural sites are connected via linked roads that are constructed using funds from National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Ngopa produces several varieties of fruits and vegetables such as orange, watermelon, banana, citrus fruits, pineapple, sugarcane, cabbage and tree beans.

Traditional soil conservation practises such as chang kham are commonly practised while the more common soil conservation practises such as Contour, half moon terracing are constructed using funds from NREGS. All horticultural and agricultural produces are organic as no synthetic fertilisers or pesticides are used in any of the farming activities. However, organic fertilisers such as biowastes from cattles are used in few fruit gardens that grow orange, watermelon, banana, citrus fruits, pineapple and sugarcane. The Village Council is also having a plan to start a bio-waste treatment plant.

Apart from agriculture and horticultural produce, Ngopa is also a plantation site for tea with a factory (Ngopa tea pvt. ltd.) for processing tea leaves. The locals reported that the tea factory has not yet been utilised to its full potential due to laborious work in tea leaves harvesting and lack of technological intervention, high labour costs and low selling price. Most of the families are self-sufficient in tea as it is common to brew enough tea leaves for their requirements.