Silchar, Sept. 12: Buoyed by the success it reaped from the commercial cultivation of Anthurium flowers, Mizoram is all set to experiment with another non-traditional cash crop. The fragrance of vanilla will soon emanate from its gardens and spread to other parts of the country.

Sources in Aizawl today said the state?s horticulture department and the Centre?s Spices Board had drawn up a scheme for the development of vanilla crop in the state.

The pilot project envisaged the distribution of about 100 to 300 plants to farmers keen on growing vanilla.

Nearly 25,000 plants, being nurtured in a government nursery near Kolasib town, have been earmarked for distribution.

The director of horticulture in Mizoram, Samuel Rosanglura, said the state government would provide subsidies to the farmers as an incentive to grow the crop.

The cultivation of vanilla would be mainly concentrated in Kolasib district, which is located about 80 km north of Aizawl, the state capital. The low-lying altitude of the district and the temperate climate of the state are ideal for the growth of vanilla plants.

The All Mizo Farmers? Union, a non-governmental organisation, will play a leading role in the cultivation of vanilla.