Aizawl, Oct 22: Reports of large-scale crop destruction caused by a massive rodent outbreak continue to pour in from across Mizoram, with the number of affected farming families climbing to 4,756 in at least 150 villages spread across all 11 districts of the State, officials from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare said on Monday.

The rodent population explosion has been linked to the gregarious flowering of “rawthing” (bambusa tulda), a bamboo species whose cyclical blooming, known locally as “Thingtam”, triggers an ecological chain reaction that leads to mass breeding of rats. Officials reported that of the 6,938.154 hectares of farmland identified so far, 1,988.34 hectares have been either completely or partially ravaged by rat swarms.

While paddy has borne the brunt o

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