Lunglei Mizoram Ginger Turmeric Cooperative Hills

Lunglei in the Lunglei district of southern Mizoram is the second largest city in the state and the centre of a hill agriculture economy producing high-quality ginger and turmeric in the jhum shifting cultivation plots of the Lushai hills. Mizo ginger is prized for its high volatile oil content and fibrousness suited to both dry ginger processing and fresh ginger export. The Lunglei district cooperative marketing society and Mizoram State Cooperative Federation organise ginger procurement from registered jhum farmers and facilitate export to Guwahati and Kolkata spice markets. Women play a dominant role in jhum field management and ginger cultivation. The Mizoram organic certification programme supports conversion of ginger and turmeric farms to organic cultivation to access premium export prices. Lunglei also produces passion fruit which is processed into cooperative juice concentrate for urban markets. The southern Mizoram border with Bangladesh creates a small informal cross-border trade in agricultural produce.