Jimmy Pamei, Tamenglong

For the past few years, Tamenglong district which is known for its sweet oranges is experiencing decay and loss of revenues from the fruits. Stories of plights related to the orange growers of Tousem Sub-division, Tamei Sub-division and Tamenglong itself may tell only half the truth. In this regard, the responses from the state government are null or minimal.

For 74 years old Ngimlungbe Newme, an Orange Farmer in Manipur’s Tousem Sub-division, pruning is the only option to save his dying Orange trees after unknown pests have attacked his Orange farm. The disease spreads at the root, and then the leaves begin to fall away. Finally, the tree began to degenerate. “I’ve tried applying lime and iodine to kill the stem-borers. But it was not very effective in most of the cases. So I finally opted to prune the trees,” says Newme. His neighbor described that some forms of white patches or powder like pests (Cottony cushion) were seen attacking his trees. Even if the orange trees produce delicate flowers all over the branches, and even if they yield some fruits, they will be small in size sans the sweetness.  The leaves would turn yellowish and finally wither away.

Tasinang Gangmei from Tabanglong village of Tamenglong District whose oranges were awarded as the best in the last Orange Festival also shares his story that his orange tree leaves are falling, the peels are thick with a little amount of juice. As such he is not going to sell the fruits this year.

Another orange cultivator Mathiudin of Pallong village in Tamei Sub-division also has a similar story.” I also have about 100 orange trees. But the leaves are turning yellowish and facing a lot of issues,” he said. The yielded fruits are small in size with unusually thick peel.

The Chairman of Mandeu Village Hangrangba Newme said that there are 120 households in the village, and each household has an orange farm. But since 2007 the plants began to show signs of pathogens and are dying and dwindling in numbers. So they are looking for alternative sources of income for the village. Villages at Tamei Sub-division also share the same plights. 

Though the reason behind the above issues is yet to be established, the cause of dwindling orange trees along with the ‘Tree Bean’ (Parkia / Yongchak) points to the historic event of bamboo flowering that began about two decades ago in the hill districts of Manipur, according to village elders.

An elder from Tamenglong Village Nambichuang said ‘bamboo flowering comes back as a cycle in about 100 years’. When it returns the oranges and tree beans would wither away. But after a few years, new plant would appear with much more vigor and yield.” This context is seen to be happening at Tamenglong District now.

Unfortunately this issue is not being given any attention by research groups of the state or the country. Though some new trees have regenerated from the karma of the past, many farmers are still haunted by the past nightmares.

According to another farmer from Tousem Sub-division his oranges seem to grow better in the soil which has some layers of rock beneath the topsoil. Others felt that grazing of cows in their farms seemed to clear up the growth of other bushes and herbs, and hence the orange trees thrive better in such an environment.

Now, except for villages like Sibilong, Mandeu, Taningjam and Azuram, orange trees are withering away fast at Tousem Sub-division. So too at Tamei Sub-division villages are witnessing the same adversity. Chaton village in this Sub-division had good yields for the past decade while the trees in other villages were shriveling to death. But by 2020-21 the village began to experience the same fate. In this regard, President of Horticultural Development Society Tamenglong (HOST) David Panmei said that during the Orange Festivals they had toured some villages with the officials of the Horticulture Department of Manipur. They have given them some advice to check the problems. But follow-up actions were not taken up by the Department. “We have requested for a Rejuvenation Program from the state government. But we didn’t get any positive responses till date” David lamented. A grower from Tamenglong Village Charles Liangdiang had urged the ICAR scientist to come and observe his plants at the farm. They were surprised to find infestations at the roots of the trees. Charles also made a hint that many birds that used to feed on the worms of the trees were shot by the villagers, and hence the plants were opened to various forms of worms’ infestation.

Oranges And The Economy Of Farmers

Oranges are the main source of income for the farmers of the villages in Tamenglong District which is known as the producer of the best oranges in the state. Since the fruits are harvested mainly in the winter season, the farmers sell them for expenses for the Christmas and New Year seasons. From the proceeds, they also can take care of their children’s admission in the next academic year. A full-grown good tree can yield up to 5000 fruits. A pack of ten oranges is usually sold for Rs. 100. At this rate a farmer who owns 100 orange trees is able to fetch some lakhs of Rupees as income from his farm. 

The GI Tagging of Tamenglong Orange is expected to add value to the fruit. The recognition of the worth of this fruit, and consequent sponsoring of the so-called Orange Festival at Tamenglong has added extra value to this mandarin. The 16th State Level Orange Festival was last held on 16 December 2019 at Tamenglong HQs with the Manipur Chief Minister as the Chief Guest who came along with the Horticulture Department officials of the state. Needless to mention here that the festival missed the wood for a tree as attention of the people is inclined more for extravaganzas at the Orange Festival. Due to Covid 19 pandemic, there was no festival in 2020 and 2021.

According to Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA), under the Department of Horticulture and Soil Conservation, oranges of  Tamenglong have grown in about 400 hectares altogether. The average weight of each fruit is 232.76 grams. The juice content of the fruit is calculated at 45%. Most of the orange peels of Tamenglong are thin, and hence people opted for such fruits.

At this juncture, it must be noted that the effects of global climate change have impacted even the remotest part of the world. Tamenglong is not excluded. Unfortunately, many farmers are not aware that their oranges production is also affected by the changes in the climatic condition of the world. However, a grower from Merrylane in Tamenglong Village Nathaniel R. Panmei said that his trees’ health is showing signs of fluctuations in the last decade. If a particular year’s yield is optimum, the next year’s yield will not be the same consequently. Hence he suggested that a change in climatic conditions could be linked to this phenomenon.

(This article is written under the Directorate of Environment sponsored 2nd State Level Media Fellowship on Climate Change Reporting)

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