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Acute food shortage in Mizoram villages

Sushanta Talukdar

Bamboo flowers again attracting rats; paddy crop destroyed, losses put at Rs.411.38 crore

Rice stock must be transported before monsoon: official
“The State has been declared as disaster-affected”

Hualtu (Mizoram): Residents of this remote village in Mizoram’s Serchhip district, about 90 km off the capital Aizawl, are facing acute food shortage as hordes of rats have destroyed their ‘jhum’ paddy and other crops for the second successive year.

The 172 families of the village are relying on the rice supplied by through the fair price shop. The villagers also need supply of seeds to raise next crop.

This and more than 700 other villages spread over all the eight districts of Mizoram are gripped by ‘Mautam’— the phenomenon of gregarious bamboo flowering that occurs at an interval of 47-50 years and subsequent destruction of crops by rodents and other insects.

Locals believe that the flowering of bamboo results in famine as the rats, after feasting on bamboo fruits, multiply in large numbers. When the rats have no more bamboo fruits to feed on, they attack paddy and other crops.

Insurgency

When bamboo flowered last time in 1958-59, it resulted in famine in the Mizo hills, then a district of Assam. The famine gave rise to the Mizo National Famine Front which was later rechristened the Mizo National Front (MNF).

It led a two-decade long insurgent movement and finally signed a peace accord in 1986 with New Delhi paving the creation of the State of Mizoram. Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who is heading the present MNF government, was one of the front ranking underground leaders.Mizoram also experienced ‘Mautam’ during 1910-11.

Forty-year-old Lalrinmawia, the Village Council president of Hualtu, and other residents said if the rice stock at Chhingchip was not replenished well ahead of monsoon,they might have to starve.

Road in bad shape

“Even if the government creates the buffer stock for the monsoon months, the villagers will still have to carry the rice on headloads through the entire 14.5-km road up the hills that connects Hualtu with the National Highway 54 at Chhingchip. Because, one monsoon shower and our road becomes inaccessible,” Lalrinmawia told The Hindu.

Commissioner and Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, T.B.C. Rozara said if the Food Corporation of India failed to bring in 15,000 tonnes of rice well ahead of monsoon, then the situation may “turn very critical.”

He said the government had impressed upon the FCI authorities that the movement of goods was impossible in monsoon due to landslips and that the rice stock should be transported fast..

“Mizoram is facing famine following failure of harvest for the last two years in succession. There is shortage of rice and many people are facing starvation in the rural areas,” stated a note on “Food Crisis in Mizoram” prepared by the Food and Civil Supplies Department.

The Secretary, Disaster Management, government of Mizoram, K. Riachho, said: “The State government has declared the entire State as disaster-affected following crop destruction due to rodent attack that led to famine.” He said that there was no report of any starvation death so far and added that adequate relief measures had been initiated.

According to the Agriculture Department, as on February 11, ‘Mautam’ has affected 1,30,621 families in 769 villages. Rodents and insects have damaged 16,132 hectares of wet rice cultivation and 1,25,345 hectares of ‘jhum’ paddy cultivation.

Against the expected yield of 12,93,476 quintals of ‘jhum’ paddy, the harvest was only 2,66,469 quintals and against the expected yield of 3,22,570 quintals of wet rice paddy actual yield was only 67,084 quintals.

The department has estimated the losses at Rs.411.38 crore. While the loss in paddy was 89.76 per cent, the loss in other crops such as maize and vegetables was about 60 per cent.

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