The scientific view
Does bamboo flowering and simultaneous increase in rat population bring famine and natural calamities?
Scientists state that the gregarious flowering of bamboo produces large quantities of seeds. Every 40 square yard clumps of the bamboo specie Dendrocalamus strictus can produce 320 pounds of seeds. Seeds attract rats. Fortified by the protein-rich seeds, they multiply rapidly and there is a natural explosion in the rodent population.
For instance, during 1976, following bamboo flowering in Mizoram, volunteers and workers in the municipal department were given a monetary incentive to kill rats. They submitted a record number of 5 lakh rat tails, as evidence that these rodents had been killed! Similarly rats killed in 1978 by the government were to the tune of 26 lakhs! Even Arunachal Pradesh recorded an increase in rat population.
In places where there are large bamboo forests, rats consume the bamboo seeds. But the supply of bamboo seeds is limited.
The sudden transition from plenty of food to the near total absence of food forces millions of rats out of the bamboo forests. They land in farms in the vicinity and play havoc with the standing crop, devouring acres of rice, potatoes, and sweet potatoes within a few days.
Facing a further dearth of food, rats are prone to attack the granaries. Thus bringing about famine as an aftermath of bamboo flowering.
Bamboo flowering is also associated with untimely and heavy rainfall, leading to landslides. This could be because of the death of bamboo clump, which loosens the soil beneath. The landslide at Aizawl during October
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