Mizoram may loose 30 to 50 per cent of crops due to drought

Aizawl, Aug 18 Mizoram's agriculture and horticulture products may plummet by 30 to 50 per cent due to severe drought, state Agriculture Minister H Liansailova said today.

The state government would prepare a detailed report on the estimated lost of harvest and would submit it to the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar during a meeting of state agriculture ministers in New Delhi on Friday, Liansailova said.

At least 59 per cent of the cultivation areas were initially affected by the drought, but as rains lashed the state during August, the figure came down to 48 per cent, he said while addressing a meeting of agriculture officers here.

"Late sowing of seeds and lost of crops due to absence of rain during germination season caused worries to the farmers," he added.