Trail of destruction across maize fields in Mizoram

The Fall Army Worm (FAW) outbreak that left a trail of destruction across the maize fields in Mizoram, is decreasing, the Joint Director of Agriculture Department, James Lalsiamliana, said on Wednesday.

Lalsiamliana informed PTI that there is a chance of recovery of the infested crop, depending upon the severity of damage, control measures taken and application of fertilizers.

"We are yet to be able to predict the extent of damage or possible recovery as the value of damage may differ, and actual value of damage or crop loss could be calculated after harvest of the cobs," he said.

As of today 10,049 maize farming families residing in 341 villages across eight districts in the state have been affected by the pest attack.

The pest attack started in the first week of April.

Out of a total of 4,729 hectare of land where maize was cultivated, a total of 3,016 hectare of land has been recorded as infested by the state agriculture department officials.