Second edition of two-day orange festival at Mungpoo, Darjeeling

The second edition of the two-day Orange Festival began on Friday in Mungpu, a village in the Darjeeling hills, about 52 km from here.

The program organized by the state Department of Horticulture and Food Processing is designed to revive the famous mandarins of the hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

Over the past few years, the yield of mountain orange, which is in great demand in India and Bangladesh, has declined due to various reasons, including plague attacks.

“The festival is organized to improve the market of hill oranges and increase the production of the winter fruit. We have contracted with the direction of Quinoa and other medicinal plants, depending on the department, to study and find high yielding orange plants. We hope there will be some improvements next year”, said Subrata Gupta, additional chief secretary of food processing and horticulture, state.

Quinoa plantation director Samuel Roy said the second and last day of the festival will be celebrated at Sittong, also known as the orange city of Darjeeling.

Anit Thapa, Executive Director, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, who was present at the festival, said, “Oranges are considered one of the most economically viable products of the mountains. “Growers should go a step ahead and take initiative to increase the yield”.

Gupta said the directorate has identified 1,100 high-yielding orange plants during a survey in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.

Let us tell you that experts from North Bengal Agricultural University and Nagpur-based Citrus Fruits Testing Institute are working to revive oranges in both the hill districts.

“We have to develop disease-free orange grafts and provide techniques like inching (a grafting technique) to revive orange plants,” Gupta said.

Oranges are cultivated in 4.150 hectares in the mountains. So far, the department has distributed around 45,000 young trees to orange growers and the trees have provided experience in farming.

Last season, about 39 metric tonnes of oranges were produced in the region.

Apart from oranges, the department also works on the cultivation of orchids and setas.

“Demand for both commercial crops is stable and farmers can earn good income,” an official said.