Indian agriculture is required to re-engineer with issues of climate change and to assure higher income from agriculture for farmers. Modernization of agriculture is not only conglomeration of knowledge, attitude and adoption of improved technologies for higher productivity, income and food security but also includes environmental and higher income security (i.e., doubling farmers’ income by 2022). So, scientific cultivation of spices, including king chilli (Capsicum spp.) with scramble of environment and higher income security is not an exception. This paper is an attempt to examine the existing socio-economic and modernization status of king chilli growers in the Mon district, Nagaland, India; it will pave the way to accelerate the further modernization. Various socio-economic variables were included to examine the socio-economic status of king chilli growes. Knowledge, attitude on improved technologies and status of adoption of improved technologies in king chilli cultivation by respondents were measured. Modernization index was calculated and respondents were categorized. Study showed that ‘income from king chilli’ contributed around 77.42 per cent of annual income from agriculture and around 70 per cent of total annual income. Majorities (63%) were under medium and remaining (37%) were in low modernization index category. Further, variables, namely, ‘experience in King Chilli cultivation’, ‘total size of land holding’, ‘size of operational land holding’, ‘land under king chilli cultivation’, ‘type of house’, ‘material possession’, ‘annual income’, ‘income from agricultural sector’ and ‘income from king chilli cultivation’ were positively and significantly correlated for characterizing the mo dernization of king chilli cultivation.