India 2018

632 India 2018
History and Geography
Mizoram is a mountainous region which became the 23rd state of the Indian
Union in February 1987. It was one of the districts of Assam till 1972 when it
became a Union Territory. After being annexed by the British in 1891, for the
first few years, Lushai hills in the north remained under Assam while the
southern half remained under Bengal. Both these parts were amalgamated in
1898 into one district called Lushai Hills District under the Chief Commissioner
of Assam. With the implementation of North-Eastern Reorganization Act in
1972, Mizoram became a Union Territory and as a sequel to the signing of the
historic memorandum of settlement between the Government of India and the
Mizo National Front in 1986, it was granted statehood in 1987. Sandwiched
between Myanmar in the east and the south and Bangladesh in the west, the
state occupies an area of great strategic importance in the north-eastern corner
of India. Mizoram has a great natural beauty and an endless variety of landscape
rich in flora and fauna.
The Mizos came under the influence of the British Missionaries in the
19th century. Now most of the Mizos are Christians. Mizo language has no
script of its own. The missionaries introduced the Roman script for the Mizo
language and formal education.
Agriculture
About 60 per cent of the people of the state are engaged in agricultural and
allied activities. The main pattern of the agriculture followed is jhum or shifting
cultivation. Of the total 21 per cent is put on paddy/seasonal crops. About 63
per cent of the total crop area is under jhum cultivation. To replace the
destructive and unproductive jhum cultivation with sustainable means of
occupation, the state government has launched an innovative programme called
the New Land Use Policy covering all the districts. The area under Jhum
cultivation has decreased from 44,947 hectare at the beginning of 11th Plan to
20,064 hectare during 2014-15 which account for above 55.36 per cent reduction.
The significant reduction in jhum area is mainly due to the implementation of
NLUP, oil palm development programme, sugarcane cultivation programme,
RKVY, and RAD.
Horticulture
Owing to the fact that more than 60 per cent of the population depends on
land based activities for their livelihoods, horticulture plays a vital role and
occupies very important place in the economy of Mizoram. Because of its
advantageous agro-climatic condition, hilly terrain nature of the landscape
and well distributed rainfall during monsoon season horticulture is a
sustainable land based activities for development of the economy. Out of the
estimated total of 21 lakh hectare of land 6.30 lakh hectare is available for
cultivation of horticulture crops. The main horticulture crops are mandarin
orange, banana, passion fruit, grapes, hatkora, pineapple, papaya, etc. and