Nagaland Orange Festival

January 25, 2023

Nagaland is celebrating the Orange Festival for two days. Nagaland Fruit Festival is being organized in the state to praise the hard work of orange growers. Revenue from oranges in the state almost doubled recently. Fruit festivals are famous all over the world. The most popular fruit festivals in the world are the Pineapple Festival of Thailand, the Pumpkin Festival in Germany, the Mango Festival of India, the Cranberry festival in Canada, the Marino Grape Festival of Italy, the Orange Festival of Amsterdam, etc. International Fruit Day is celebrated on July 1.

Nagaland Fruit Festival

The festival is to be celebrated in Rusoma village near Kohima. The 2023 Nagaland Fruit festival is the third edition. The Nagaland Fruit festival was organized by the Rusoma Village council. Council joined hands with the horticultural department in conducting the festival.

Why Horticulture and not agriculture?

Cultivation of fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants, flowering plants, medicinal, and aromatic plants are grouped under horticulture. It is a subset of agriculture. So you can term orange cultivation under agriculture as well. But you cannot term paddy, wheat, and other crop cultivation under horticulture!

Significance

Orange earns four crores to five crores of revenue for the state. Currently, there are 78,000 Orange trees in Nagaland. The festival will set a good example for the rest of the Nagas. The Nagas in Nagaland and in other northeastern states are demanding separate land. Looking at the efforts put by the Indian Government through these festivals and learning about the economic development activities in the region, they will start putting their trust in the government. The festival will also aid in India’s Look East Policy. India is to use the North Eastern states to increase its trade in East and South East Asia under this policy.