Tax-free, deficit Mizoram budget to boost agriculture

AIZAWL - Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla Friday presented a tax free Rs.3,577.92 crore budget for 2010-11 with a deficit of Rs.26.3 crore, which gives priority to the development of agriculture and agro-based activities.

“We are presenting the full-fledged budget even though the Planning Commission is yet to finalise the Mizoram’s annual plan allocation for 2010-2011,” Lal Thanhawla, who holds the finance portfolio, said, adding that it was done to undertake the developmental works at the beginning of the new financial year.

“The state government’s flagship programme - the New Land Use Policy (NLUP) would continue to be given the highest priority,” he told the assembly.

The NLUP aims to solve food scarcity by moving away from shifting cultivation to permanent farming.

“The outline of implementation of NLUP and corresponding allocation of funds among various departments would be worked out in due course,” he said.

Tribals in the northeast have for generations been carrying out the traditional slash-and-burn method of cultivation, called jhum, which has resulted in deforestation and worsening of the soil condition.

About 80 percent of farmers in Mizoram depend on jhum cultivation that involves clearing of forests and burning trees, weeds and bamboos.

According to the Chief Minister, the NLUP will support 120,000 families in the first five years. The state’s agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, veterinary, industries, forest, fisheries, and soil and water conservation departments would be involved in implementing the scheme.

The budget session began Wednesday and would continue till April 5.