The Mizoram Agriculture Department is taking steps to increase maize production despite an outbreak of the fall armyworm, which has left a trail of destruction in the fields across the State, officials said on Friday.
The production of maize in the State was 8,911 metric tonnes in 5,779 hectares in 2016-17, while it was 9,470.6 MT in 5,979.2 hectares in 2017-18, the officials added.
The officials said they expect an increase in the cultivation area and production due to the department’s concentration on maize cultivation in the low-lying areas of central Mizoram’s Serchhip district under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. Additional seeds have been distributed for rabi and kharif crops, though the FAW “has been a big blow”, they said.
