Orange Festival in Tamenlong
Orange growers remain grossly dissatisfied as attention was largely focused on entertainment aspect of the festival.
Sandeep Banerjee

Tamenglong is referred to as the ‘orange bowl of the North-East’. Nothing highlights it better than the Orange Festival here during the winter. The fifth edition of the annual Orange Festival of Tamenglong was held recently and it attracted bulk buyers from outside the State as also promoted the credential of Tamenglong as a tourist destination. Some of the tourist attractions are Bunning Valley, crystal streams, Barak waterfalls, Zeilad Lake, Tharon Cave and Mount Kisha.

The festival got a new name from this year. It was rechristened Manipur Winter Festival from this year. This year, apart from the best of fruits grown in the Tamenglong district being in display, one also got to see a mosaic of cultures that thrive in this part of Manipur. Apart from cultural programmes, a handloom and handicraft exhibition cum sale was organized to lend variety to the event. Another attraction was the rafting expedition on the Barak River, along which migratory birds come to roost. A new addition this year was the orange queen beauty contest. Over 20 girls from Manipur and   Nagaland vied for the crown. The winners and runners up got handsome cash prizes.

But the organization of the festival in its form also received a good share of criticism. Many orange growers of Tamenglong district feel that the organizers have ruined the whole point of the festival by putting over emphasis on the orange queen beauty contest and the huge hype that surrounded it. In the process they said that the orange growers got neglected. The growers feel that this is happening for the last two years. According to aggrieved orange growers the same case of negligence has again occurred this year as the organizing committee, despite assurances to make arrangements for transportation of orange crops from various far flung villages, failed to send any vehicles, as it paif more importance to accommodating the orange queen contestants. Originally, the organizers had expected farmers from at least 30 villages of the Tamenglong district to participate but actually the participation turned out to be far less. The growers said that with assurance from the organizing committee to make transportation arrangements for their orange crops, many of them had plucked their oranges in large qualities, but they suffered a loss as their crops could not be brought to Tamenglong in time for the festival.

The winner of the best grower award - Thingailung of Nwgba sub-division, also seconded this view. He said that even in his sub-division there were many top grade growers but they could not participate in the festival due to lack of transportation. The best grower award winner bagged a cash prize of Rs. 30,000, while the first and second runner ups got Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 10,000 respectively. But still the growers remained grossly dissatisfied for as all attention were being focused on entertainment aspect of the festival more, apparently neglecting the growers.

Deputy Commissioner of TamenglongThangthuilung Pamei also acknowledged that negative sentiments among the orange growers has run very high in the district. But he felt that these minor glitches can be removed in the years to come. He felt that combining the annual orange festival with the winter tourism festival has provided the farmers with a great chance for interaction with different intellectuals and also to air their grievance in various aspects of development.

Lack of marketing opportunities has been the bane of orange growers in Tamenglong. The reason for the big buyers staying away can be attributed to bad communiciation and law and order problems. But the annual Tamenglong orange festival is trying hard to attract buyers to the wonderful citrus delight that this district throws up. More than 20 tonnes of oranges were sole this year during the festival itself by the growers which in itself is a huge achievement.

The annual orange festival can only grow bigger and better. The organizers have already vowed to organize it in a large scale in the year 2006. Tamenglong is seeking its place under the sun ….. its beautiful orange crops and the annual winter festival are seen today as the best medicines to attain it.

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