The Orange Festival at Rüsoma village, situated in the northern region of Kohima district, began on Tuesday. The festival was first held in 2020, making the 2023 edition its third.
K Neibou Sekhose, Additional Director, Rural Development, inaugurated the two-day Orange Festival at the village ground.
Speaking as the Fest Father, Sekhose said the festival reflects the unity and oneness amongst the villagers and the good leadership of the village council. He also expressed hope that it will motivate and benefit neighbouring villages and Nagas in general.
Further, the RD Addl Dir urged the village to uphold this spirit of oneness and intensify orange farming for economic prosperity.
Orange farming has become one of the main sources of income for the villagers of Rüsoma, who generate cash in terms of lakhs annually. It is learned that presently out of 78,000 orange trees, 13,000 trees have been harvested, 20,000 trees are at the initial stage, and 35,000 trees will be harvested within a week’s time. The villagers are also hopeful that in 5–10 years, the annual income generation will cross to Rs 5 crore.
S Senka, District Horticulture Officer, said horticulture is one of the major drivers for economic growth in the country and more remunerative than other allied sectors which also provides employment possibilities.
The DHO also said that horticulture crops such as oranges are more resilient to changes in weather conditions. He also spoke on the paradigm shift in horticulture where smart farming/smart horticulture is focused on transformation and reorientation from traditional farming to increase yields through productivity, improved resilience, and reduced side effects.
Senka also highlighted the features of smart farming like economic viability of the farming, efficient use of limited natural resources such as water, land, and labour, energy saving of limited fossil fuel, equitable distribution of benefits amongst the farming community, environment, and ecology protection and employment generation to ensure high-income levels, etc.
He suggested various points to achieve smart horticulture such as drip-irrigation, post-harvest and value addition in horticulture crops, modified atmosphere packaging for long productivity and transportation of fruits and vegetables, and insect pollinators for improving productivity and quality of the crops.
Earlier, the chairman of Rüsoma Village Council, Kehouchükhrie Mezhier, gave the welcome address while the convenor of the festival, Khrielie Chase, gave the keynote address. Head GB Kruzolie Zhale said the vote of thanks.
The third edition of the Orange Festival is being organised by Rüsoma Village Council in partnership with Horticulture Department, Agriculture Department, Land Resources Department, Rural Development Department and IPR Department.
