The economic base of the tribal society in Assam has been, by and large, subsistence agriculture. Penetration of market forces and exposure to modern way of life has changed their consumption baskets leading to increased demand for cash. This inter alia other factors might have induced tribal farmers to produce for market. However, to make a successful transition typically the tribal farmers are handicapped for lack of skill, relative remoteness of location and inability to invest. Unlike that of shifting cultivation in the hills, the problems of the plain tribal farmers have received very...