Mizoram farmers gripped with fear over surge in rodents due to bamboo flowering
A surge in rodent population has been reported from 163 villages across all 11 districts of the state, affecting a total area of 7.6 lakh hectares.
Farmers across several villages in Mizoram are gripped with fear following a massive outbreak of rodents triggered by the flowering of bamboo, which has left trails of destruction in paddy and soybean fields across the state.
According to a report released by the Mizoram Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department on October 30, 2025, a surge in rodent population has been reported from 163 villages across all 11 districts of the state, affecting a total area of 7.6 lakh hectares.
“There’s total damage and destruction of crops over an area of 2.3 lakh hectares. Many farmers faced crop loss and damage to their fields, impacting various types of crops,” the department said in a statement.
The worst-hit areas include Mamte and nearby villages, about 50km from Mizoram’s second-largest city of Lunglei. Farmers said rats began attacking their paddy fields in late September.
“My office sent a team to assess the ground situation. Though the situation is grim for the farmers affected by the swarming of rats, most of the farmers from Maite village have lost their annual harvests,” said Lalhmangaihchhunga, agriculture officer of Lunglei district.
“I cultivated early-harvest sticky rice in about three hectares; I lost all my crops. It’s very sad,” said Chungtea, a farmer from Mamte village. “Two other paddy fields adjoining mine were also flattened by the swarm,” he added.
Chungtea said he set 30 rat traps in his paddy fields and caught more than 20 rats in one night — a clear sign, he said, of the growing rodent population. He estimated that over 50 families in his village have suffered extensive crop damage, with early-harvest paddy varieties completely destroyed. “Large soybean fields and other vegetables have also been ravaged. We have no expectation of a harvest this year,” he said.
Experts believe this rodent outbreak could be the precursor to ‘Thingtam’, a famine caused by rat infestations following the gregarious flowering of ‘Bambusa tulda’, a bamboo species locally called ‘rawthing’. The phenomenon occurs roughly every 48 years — the last recorded ‘Thingtam’ took place in 1977. The flowering produces protein-rich bamboo fruits. When the food source diminishes, the rats turn to agricultural crops, often leading to famine.
The department said the affected crops include major staples such as maize, mustard, ginger, turmeric, betel nut, lentils, spinach, mustard greens, and various beans. To assist affected farmers, the government has initiated relief measures, including the procurement of 186.67 quintals of local rice seeds for resowing.
To curb the rodent menace, the agriculture department has distributed rodenticides to farmers and carried out mass poisoning drives in affected regions.
Agriculture scientist and former director of the Mizoram Agriculture Department, Dr. James Lalsiamliana, who researched the 2006 bamboo flowering in the state, said that bamboo flowering is dreaded by farmers.
“We can’t blame the farmers, especially octogenarians who can recall the deadly 1966 famine in the then Mizo Hills district of Assam. At this modern age, fear of famine is just a recollection from the darkest time Mizoram faced, but the alarming rodent population has created havoc in the minds of elders and farmers in rural areas,” said Lalsiamliana, who was among the lead scientists studying the 2006 ‘Mautam’ event.
Mizoram has witnessed two major famine cycles — Mautam and Thingtam — both caused by mass bamboo flowering and subsequent rodent infestations. Severe famines were documented in 1862, 1911, and 1959, each linked to this ecological phenomenon.
The most devastating famine occurred between 1959 and the 1960s, leading to widespread starvation and political unrest in the Mizo Hills. Public anger over the Assam government’s and Centre’s inadequate response led to the formation of the Mizo National Famine Front (MNFF), which later became the Mizo National Front (MNF). The MNF subsequently waged a 20-year insurgency that ended with the signing of the Mizo Peace Accord in 1986.
