Mizoram govt sounds alert on bamboo flowering

Aizawl, Nov 6 (UNI) Mizoram government sounded alert on 'mautam' (famine) with the reports of sudden bamboo flowering in eastern and north eastern parts of the state which badly hit the paddy crops.

Many farmers in these parts experienced overnight damage of paddy crops, official sources here said today.

Officials of the agriculture department and representatives of various NGOs, including the Mizoram Farmers Union (MFU), have started visiting villages across the state. They would give instructions to the people on how to deal with the emerging problems created to crops by rats and other insects.

Melocanna baccifera-largest growing bamboo species, which had grown over an area of more than 6,400 square kilometres, have started flowering across the state.

During the last bamboo flowering, the rodent population increased and ravaged the paddy cultivation across the state leading to worst- ever famine in the history of the state.

The massive awareness campaigns have already been launched following the reports of rodent multiplication in the paddy fields in Kolasib, Lunglei, Serrichip and Aizawl districts of the state.

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

''Apart from the ready-to-use bait evaluation using acute rodenticides, zinc phosphide to tackle rodents, survey will also be conducted in inaccessible areas,'' he added.

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