Guwahati, May 1 -- Reported by Manoj Kumar Ojha

Doomdooma: Small tea growers in Assam's Tinsukia district are increasingly turning to black pepper cultivation alongside areca nut and tea farming in an effort to diversify income and improve land productivity.

In areas such as Baghjan, Sadiya and Daisajan, farmers have begun growing black pepper vines on areca nut trees while continuing tea cultivation below, creating a multi-layered farming system suited to the region's climate.

Farmers said the tall betel nut trees provide favourable support and partial shade for pepper vines, while tea bushes continue to grow beneath them with little disruption.

"We never imagined pepper would grow so well alongside our betel nuts and tea. It feels l...