Sihphir is one of the biggest villages in Mizoram, located in Tlangnuam Block, Aizawl District. 6528 People are living in this Village as per 2011 census. Sihphir is known for their large production of squash, milk and vegetables. The people living in Sihphir depend on multiple skills, which include agriculture farming, livestock production and labour works.

Squash production at Sihphir

Sihphir has been the largest producer of squash in the state. About ten years ago, when the production of squash at the village was at its peak, full truckloads of squashes were exported to other villages, states and even other countries like Bangladesh on a daily basis. However, the production of squashes has been in a decline due to difficulty in market chain, no value addition which resulted in spoilage of surplus produce, decrease in soil fertility etc.

Cattle farming at Sihphir:

Sihphir was once known for their cattles especially cows and buffaloes, it was the largest milk supplier in the State. Till today, they are the major supplier to the largest milk industry called Mizoram Milk Producers Cooperative union limited (MULCO).

However, the number of families who practise cattle farming and the number of cattles in the village decreases year after year. Reasons include difficulty in feed production, high labour costs and difficulty in management of intense labour requirements by the cattles.

Problems & Needs:

1. The conventional rearing of cattles specially cows, can be laborious, difficult and requires full time effort of the families engaged. The activities involved include collection of fodder, feeding, milking, selling of milk, taking care of the herd etc. Use of technologies that can bring efficiency and effectiveness in the mentioned activities would surely boost productivity of the farmers. Examples of technologies that would increase efficiency include:

           i) Hydroponics for fodder production: Collection of fodder is a full time work that takes an entire day since the feeds are collected from distant                          locations. The difficulty in fodder collection is one of the main factors that limit the number of herds at Muthi. The cultivation of feeds by hydroponics                    system not only saves time and effort but also produces nutritious fodder that enhances milk production.

           ii) Chaff cutter : The cutting of crop residues increases the consumption and palatability of the feeds which improves animal digestion and prevents                      animals from rejecting any part of their food.

           iii) Milking machine: Milking machines are known to reduce the milking time by upto 50% over the manual process. It also leads to hygienic milk                           collection

            iv) Bulk milk chiller/can chiller: Many times, the milk spoiled due to delay in collection. Milk chillers would ensure that the milk remains at a desired                      quality till it gets collected to be processed or sold.

       2.The loss of soil fertility in Sihphir is a concern to the farmers who earn their livelihood from it. The crops that used to thrive well such as squashes,                       mustard, pumpkin etc are not able to grow well in the farms. Many believe that the loss of fertility can be probably due to misuse of fertilisers,                              pesticides and the lack of practise of soil conservation. Soil regeneration practice and awareness training is a need reported in the village.