Asian Window

From The Observer, UK:

The people of Mizoram, a tiny, remote state of north-east India squeezed between Burma and Bangladesh, have known for the past 48 years that they would face famine in 2008. Confirmation came last November when the local species of bamboo that dominates the state’s landscape began to burst into flower – a peculiar ecological phenomenon that happens about twice a century.

A plague of rats rapidly followed, feasting on the bamboo’s protein-rich avocado-like fruit, before swarming to consume the farmers’ rice paddies, grain harvests and food stockpiles. Now up to a million people are facing hunger, according to aid agencies.

More:

Flowers of doom

For the people of Mizoram, the flowering of the bamboo blossoms means only one thing – that the inevitable famine is not far behind. In Mizo language, it’s called mautam — or bamboo death.

More here, and below:

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