Govt alert after massive bamboo flowering

Aizawl, July 12: An agriculture rescue team, headed by Deputy Director (Agriculture) James Lalsiamliana, visited North East belt of the state bordering Manipur and Myanmar following reports of a sudden massive bamboo flowering here.

Bamboo on the banks of Tuivai and Tuisen river bordering Manipur and neighbouring Myanmar have flowered and the subsequent multiplication of rodents along these areas have left a bad affect on paddies.

Talking to UNI here today, Mr Lalsiamliana said, ''due to this extensive bamboo flowering along the border areas, chances of hordes of rodents migrating from the forests of Manipur and Myanmar very soon are high.'' ''About 30 villages along these areas have to be rescued immediately from the expected rodent attack,'' he added.

Mr Lalsiamliana also pointed out that so far 14 rodent (murid) species were positively identified and an additional 20 species are likely to occur in Mizoram on the basis of their known regional distributions.

''Even though rodents, at present, have not directly attacked the paddies, the plants have already been affected by stem borer,'' he said, adding, ''the disease is expected to spread along these areas within few weeks''.

We have alerted our agriculture officers across the region and asked them to report immediately to the rescue team in case of any eventuality.

''We would be covering as many as 200 villages to control the rodent population immediately, and the farmers would be given rat-traps and rodenticides free of cost,'' Mr Lalsiamliana said adding, ''ready-to-use bait evaluation using acute rodenticides, zinc phosphide to tackle rodents at higher intensities and inaccessible areas will also be conducted''.

Health officials here also warned that rodents in Myanmar are suspected to carry plague and urged the farmers to immediately report any case of rodent attack on their paddies to the department.

Apart from the rodents, farmers across the state have also reported swarming of locusts, 'thangnang' (a bug believed to be harbinger of bamboo flowering and famine), and other insects, which elders in the state interpreted as a bad omen.

UNI