MIZORAM

The Jewel of India

State Facts

Area: 21081 Sq. km

Population (2011): 1,091,014

Literacy: 91.58%

Capital: Aizawl

Major crops and resources for economic upliftment

About 80 per cent of the people of Mizoram are engaged in agricultural related activities. The main agriculture practices are Jhum or Shifting cultivation. Mizoram has the potential of 6.30 lakh hectares land for cultivation of horticulture crops out of the total estimated land of 21 lakh hectares. But, the actual utilization of land for horticultural crop is only around 4127.6 hectares, which is only 6.55 per cent of the estimated potential area. The indication is clear that there is a huge scope for boosting up the horticultural crops to flourish in Mizoram. Mandarin Orange, Banana, Passion Fruit, Grapes, Hatkora, Pineapple, Papaya, etc., are the main horticultural crops cultivated at Mizoram. Flowers like Anthurium, Bird of Paradise, Orchid, Chrysanthemum, Rose and other subsidiary seasonal flowers are also grown in the state of Mizoram. Spices like Ginger, Turmeric, Black Pepper and Bird's eye Chillies are grown at large areas of land estimated at 22470 ha with total production of major spices of 59620 MT (Anonymous, 2016). People have also started extensive cultivation of oil palm, medicinal and aromatic plants. Mizoram is one of the highest producers of ginger amongst Indian states. The total production of ginger was about 28400 metric tonnes (Anonymous2015 & Das 2016). Similarly, 8200 MT of turmeric and 24700 MT of chilli produced in the year of 2015-2016, which was quite high as compared to other states of India. Jhum and sugarcane were the major agricultural crop produced in 2014-2015 with total production 23,583 MT and 44,257 MT respectively. Oilseeds, maize and pulses are the other agricultural product produces in large quantities in Mizoram. Most suitable horticultural crops are produced during 2015-2016 are mandarin Orange/Orange (41 MT), banana (141 MT), passion fruit, pineapple (33 MT). There are some medicinal and Aromatic plants are also grown in Mizoram like Stevia, Achla, Aloevera.