Aizawl: Mizoram's flagship programme the New Land Use Policy (NLUP) is one of the main contributing factors to the growth of state's economy, chief minister Lal Thanhawla told the Assembly here on Wednesday.

He said Mizoram has become one of the fastest developing states in the country as the rate of growth of its GSDP is among the top four because of the implementation of the flagship programme.

According to Lal Thanhawla, the per capita income of the state crossed the national average and he attributed this to the implementation of the programme.

The NLUP was launched by the ruling Congress in 2011 to uplift the economically backward families and attain sustainable development.

One of the primary objectives of NLUP is to provide sustainable income to farming families.

According to the Economic Survey 2017-18, the total jhum area has decreased from 28,562 hectares during 2010-11 to 19,602 during 2016-17, a decrease of about 31.37 per cent in six years.

The implementation of NLUP also increased rice production. During the year 2016-17, the total rice production from wet-rice cultivation areas was 37,851 MT, of which 8569.46 MT is contributed by the NLUP.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference here on Tuesday night, NLUP Implementing Board (NIB) vice-chairman P.L. Thanga said the state government is taking massive effort to expand the forest cover from 0.64 per cent to 70 per cent under the flagship programme.

Highlighting the government's initiative under the NLUP project, he said 3 volumes of village level land use plan have been made by economic experts from Mizoram University while the and resources potential atlas has been created by experts from Mizoram Remote Sensing Application Centre (Mirsac) under the joint initiative of the state government and United Nations Development Programme.

He said the government is also making a massive effort to improve afforestation and habitat for wildlife under the flagship programme.

According to Thanga, villages has donated 5,500 square km as community land under the initiative of Mizoram Environment and Forest Consultative Forum (MEFCOF) in an effort to expand forest cover.

He said Rs 5,176.59 lakh-worth survey project is under way under the National Land Record Modernization Programme (NLRMP) because of NLUP programme.