Aizawl: Areca nut growers in Mizoram’s Mamit district are experiencing one of their most profitable years in recent times, thanks to a notable decline in areca nut smuggling from neighbouring Myanmar, an industry representative said on Sunday.
Local farmers in the Hachhek belt have collectively earned an estimated Rs. 50 crore from this year’s harvest, according to Victor MS Dawngliana, general secretary of the Hachhek Bial Kuhva Chingtu Pawl (HBKCP), an organisation representing growers in the area.
He said prices have surged well beyond previous rates.
Areca nuts are now fetching Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,000 per bag, almost double the earlier average of Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 1,500 when illegal cross-border trade was rampant.
Traders from Assam remain the primary buyers, with some also arriving from Tripura to procure the produce.
The current harvest season began recently and is expected to continue till April.
Nearly 30 villages out of 32 in the region cultivate areca nut, a practice that started here in the 1950s.
Rengdil village, where around 380 families depend on the crop, alone recorded sales worth about Rs. 10 crore this year.
To mark the successful season, HBKCP plans to host an areca nut festival on December 8 in Rengdil, featuring sporting activities and community celebrations.
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Areca nut cultivation is spread widely across Mizoram, especially in Mamit district bordering Tripura and Bangladesh, and in Kolasib along the Assam frontier.
The state government is setting up two processing units—one each in Mamit and Kolasib—to support the sector and improve value addition.
Officials note that better vigilance along the India–Myanmar border has led to a sharp fall in both drug and areca nut smuggling.
Mizoram shares a 510-km-long international boundary with Myanmar, guarded by the Assam Rifles.
