Govt launches campaign on Bamboo flowering

Aizawl, Sept 24: The Mizoram government has launched a state-wide awareness campaign on Bamboo flowering (mautam) and its implications.

Officials of the agriculture department and representatives of various NGOs, including the Mizoram Farmers Union (MFU), visited villages and gave instructions on how to deal with problems created by rats and other insects to standing crops.

Bamboo ('Melocanna baccifera'), which grows over an area of more than 6,400 square km, that is, one third of the state, has started flowering. This is a unique phenomenon and occurs once in 48 years across the North East region and Mizoram in particular.

According to the records during the last bamboo flowering it was the massive rodent population which ravaged the paddy cultivation across the state that eventually led to the worst ever famine in the history of Mizoram.

The massive awarness campaign is being done following reports of rodent multiplication, which began in the paddy fields across the districts of Kolasib, Lunglei, Serrichip and Aizawl.

''We would be covering about 400 villages to control the rodent population immediately. The farmers would be given rat-traps and rodenticides free of cost'', James Lalsiamliana, who is incharge of rodent control team told UNI.

''Apart from this ready-to-use bait evaluation using acute rodenticides, zinc phosphide to tackle rodents at higher intensities and inaccessible areas will also be conducted by our team'', he added.

Mr James also informed that the awareness campaign would cover the entire state by end of the month.

UNI