AIZAWL, Sept 3 NNN: Cocoon Purchasing Centre has been set up in Saitual in Mizoram which was inaugurated by C. Lalthankhuma, Secretary, Sericulture Department recently.
This is as part of the New Land Use Policy (NLUP), a pilot project of the Mizoram government under Lal Thanhawla leadership.
The setting up of the cocoon purchasing centre has boost the morale of Mizo farmers who have been waiting for such thing to happen.
At the Centre, two cocoon drying ovens have been installed; and on the very day of the inauguration, people of Saitual and its nearby villages sold their cocoon weighing 126.5 kg worth Rs. 22,431 to the sericulture department.
People in this area will now be able to sell off their cocoons easily from the newly set up Cocoon Purchasing Centre.
The Sericulture Department distributed NLUP Phase II at Saitual BRC Hall to Beneficiaries from Saitual, Sihfa, Keifang, Tualbung, Lungpher and Rulchawm villages; the beneficiaries include 142 families who were given Rs.5,000 each for purpose of jhuming on that day.
It can be noted here that a comprehensive project for inclusive and equitable growth i.e. New Land Use Policy (NLUP) has been successfully implemented in Mizoram with the approval and active participation of Planning Commission, Government of India since January, 2011.
The main objective of this noble project is major overhauling of the State economy through structural replacement of devastating shifting cultivation by introducing systematic method of occupation based on local resources and ingenuity of the local people.
On August 26, as issued by the Planning Commission, the growth rate of ‘Gross State Domestic Product’ of Mizoram in the 11th Five Year Plan is 11%, which is higher than the national average-7.9% and the North East average- 9.95 %.
In connection with this, Planning Board member secretary and New Land Use Policy (NLUP) Implementing Board vice chairman PL Thanga had informed the media informed that Mizoram holds the second rank in the growth rate of GSDP among the North East states. He also said that the growth in GSDP is due mainly to Horticulture.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/cocoon-centre-set-up/
