Crops in 150 Mizoram village ravaged by rats

Aizawl, Oct 1: With the bamboo flowering or ''Mautam'' hitting the state this year, paddy cultivation in about 15 per cent of Mizoram villages has been ravaged by armies of rodents.

''Reports from 150 villages, about 15 per cent of Mizoram's around 900 villages, said ''Tai'', a kind of rice harvested before the main paddy crop, was destroyed by rats,'' Assistant Plant Protection Officer James Lalsiamliana of the Agriculture department told UNI.

''The hardest hit is the Champhai district that borders Myanmar, where bamboo flowering had completed,'' Mr Lalsiamliana said.

Areas in Aizawl district bordering Manipur and central Mizoram's Serchhip district also saw an explosion in the rat population.

Sporadic pillage of paddy was also reported from Saiha district.

The bamboo flowering is accompanied by a sharp growth in the population of rats, which feed on the flowers.

All paddy stems in Champhai district,' North East Khawdungsei and surrounding villages were devastated overnight and 11 villages were hit hard, Mr Lalsiamliana said.

Villagers reported that the paddy in their fields were completely desroyed by armies of rats overnight. The rats also damaged other crops like chillies, cocumber, watermelon and maize, Mr Lalsiamlaina said.

The State Agriculture department, in collaboration with the Youth Mizo Association (YMA) and All Mizoram Farmers Union (AMFU), is launching a campaign to create awareness about the Mauram. The campaign, which will cover all villages in the state, is scheduled to conclude by the end of this month.

Mauram, which in Mizo means 'death of Bamboo' ('mau' is bamboo and 'tam' death) is a strange ecological phenomenon that occurs in cycles of 50 years, causing famine due to the invasion of agricultural fields by rats, which multiply rapidly after eating bamboo flowers.

Heath department officials like C Zothankhuma have warned that the massive increase in the rat population may also spread deadly diseases, The department is launching an awareness campaign to educate villagers on the danger, Mr Zothankhuma said.

UNI