Amidst the outbreak of African swine fever, AIZAWL, October (IANS), killing more than 9,400 pigs and affecting about 3,700 families in eight districts, Mizoram farmers are now surrounded by severe crop damage due to bounce in rodent population triggered by Benbo flowers, officials said.
According to officials of the Forest and Agriculture Department, a huge rodent attached to the flower of bamboo species triggers famine concerns in Mizoram, which shares an inter-state border with Assam and Tripura and an international border with Myanmar and Bangladesh.
A flower of a bamboo species can give birth to rodents visible on the farm, where they store standing crops and rice in the rash. There are concerns about developing famine -like conditions.
Mizoram has an agricultural-based economy, including about 70 percent of the population depends on farming, including “Jhoom ‘(crop slash and irritation method).
An official of an agriculture and welfare department of the farmers said that out of four out of four, 122 villages have been hit by four, with immense damage to about 4,000 families as a flock of mice has eliminated their fields.
He said that the scale of damage is shocking, more than 1,737 hectares of paddy fields have been destroyed out of 6,869.954 hectares of crop areas in the state.
Mice have not only destroyed paddy fields, but also some other important crops such as maize, sugarcane, cow peas, ginger, brinjal, chilli, pumpkin, sesame and cucumber.
The official said that the department provided rodents and other toxic chemicals to farmers to curb the threat of rodents, while farmers used traditional methods such as slingshots and traditional methods to kill rodents –
The authorities requested the farmers to move around between nets, chemicals and other methods, as rodents often become ‘fodder shy’ and will avoid the same feed after some efforts.
To make the poison more effective, the leaders of the village council are advised to conduct a large -scale poisoning in the paddy fields, the official said.
Despite various efforts, the Department of Welfare of Agriculture and Farmers faces significant challenges, as poor connectivity, lack of adequate funds, and monsoon rains have made it difficult to reach remote areas where farmers can benefit the most from guidance and resources.
Department officials blamed the delayed reports from farmers and affected areas, which destroyed crops before intervention to prevent crop damage or damage.
A large number of rodent infections have been reported from villages to sereship, Maimit, Lungali and Satual districts. Locally called ‘ThingTam’ is part of a rare natural cycle, which occurs once every 45 to 48 years. The last major incident of this bamboo flower incident was in 1977.
Mizoram also reported the rodent attack in 2007 and 2022, during which at least nine districts were affected.
Experts said that the horrific flowers of bamboo suddenly cause food surplus, which accelerates the population growth of the rat. However, the lack of latter food leads to a large -scale invasion of crops because mice have strict discovery for livelihood.
“Thingtam” refers to a cyclical, massive famine in Mizoram that is caused by mass of specific bamboo species, causing explosions of post -mice that destroy crops and store grains.
Mizoram Agriculture Minister PC Vanlalruta had earlier requested the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for special financial and technical assistance to support farmers affected by “ThingTam”.
In 1959, Mizo Hills was destroyed by a great famine known as ‘Mohammad’ (famine) in Mizo history. The cause of the famine was attributed to the bamboo flower, resulting in a rat population.
After eating bamboo seeds, mice turned to crops and infected huts and houses and became a plague for villages. The havoc created by mice was terrible, and very few grains were cut.
For livelihood, many Mizos had to collect roots and leaves from the forests. Others moved to distant places, while a large number of starvation died.
The formation of Mizoram, which was earlier part of Assam, was also closely related to famine. The two -decade long (since 1966 to 1986) extremism allegedly triggers the negligence of the Center by the previous underground Mizo National Front (MNF) under the leadership of Liddenga, which was due to negligence to Mizos’s plight due to ‘Maoom’ or famine.
MNF signed a historic peace agreement with the Center in 1986, and Mizoram became the 23rd state of the country in 1987.
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SC/Dan