Aizawl, October 6:   As Mizoram grapples with a severe rodent infestation, 73 farming families from Mamte and Thlengang villages in Lunglei district have refused to participate in a government-led mass poisoning campaign, citing risks to their crops and water sources.

The state’s Agriculture Department has launched rodent poisoning operations in several of the worst-hit areas, including Tawpui North-I, Mualcheng South, Thingfal, Mamte, and Thlengang, where paddy fields have suffered extensive damage. However, many families in Mamte and Thlengang argued that spreading poison during the harvest season could contaminate grain and nearby streams, threatening their livelihood for the entire year.

Mamte village, with 134 households, has 47 families dependent on paddy and mixed-crop cultivation. In Thlengang, 40 out of 50 households rely primarily on farming. Despite the rodent menace, most of these families are opting for traditional and community-based methods instead of chemical solutions.

District agriculture officials, who visited the affected villages, confirmed widespread crop losses but stressed that no coercion was used and that farmers’ decisions would be respected.

The infestation has devastated farmland across all 11 districts of Mizoram, affecting 130 villages. Experts have linked the surge in rodent numbers to Thingtam, a rare ecological event triggered by the gregarious flowering of the Rawthing bamboo (Bambusa tulda), which occurs roughly once every 48 years. The last such outbreak in 1977 also caused widespread crop destruction.

According to R. Lalnunzira, Director of the State Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Department, rodents have damaged about 1,737 hectares of paddy fields out of Mizoram’s 6,870 hectares of cropland. Apart from paddy, crops such as maize, sugarcane, cowpea, ginger, eggplant, chilli, pumpkin, sesame, and cucumber have also been affected.

Lalnunzira noted that many farmers have suffered near-total losses and that recovery will take time. The Agriculture Department is currently exploring alternative control measures and possible support mechanisms, but the long-term impact of the Thingtam-driven outbreak remains a pressing concern for the state’s farming community