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Over half a million people of Mizoram are affected by a famine kind of situation owing to tremendous rise in the rodent population. It is the growth of flowering of bamboo in the state which has resulted in rise of the rodent population. This is a natural phenomenon and usually occurs after every 48 to 50 years. The growth of bamboo flowers leads to increase in rodent and insect population that ultimately destroys the crops.
R. Lalthangliana, the forest and environment minister has stated that even though the state is reeling under the grip of famine, there is no starvation death. The minister further revealed that the government is distributing paddy seeds free of cost to the farmers across the state as the majority of the farmers have lost their crops due to expansive bamboo flowering.
The rodents tend to multiply rapidly after eating the protein rich seeds that appear immediately after bamboo flowering. Mizoram experienced a devastating famine in 1959 when the rodent population multiplied owing to bamboo flowering.
