Orange production in Darjeeling hills is looking at better times this winter despite the October landslides and floods.
Darjeeling Mandarins received the GI tag on November 24 this year.
One of the first batches of the GI-tagged oranges reached Calcutta on Saturday. Sources said that the consignment — around 450kg of Darjeeling Mandarins — was procured by the state’s agriculture marketing department from Sivitar of Kurseong subdivision.
Official sources in the district horticulture department said that last year the production was over 19,000 metric tonnes across the hills.
After considering the trend of production it is expected this year the production will be higher, because despite the natural catastrophe of October, orange production remained steady.
“We visited the hilly hamlet on Thursday with the official of the agriculture marketing department and procured around 450kg of oranges from the growers in the first phase, which was sent to Calcutta to be sold out through the ‘Sufal Bangla Stalls’ of the state government. It is expected that production will more than last year’s 19,000 metric tonnes,” Prabhas Mondal, the deputy director of horticulture department of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, Darjeeling, said.
Sivitar is a tiny hamlet surrounded by tea plantations and hilly landscape, around 50km from Siliguri, located at an elevation of around 4,800 feet from sea level.
An official of the district horticulture department said over 150 growers were involved in the cultivation of the Darjeeling Mandarins in the locality. Most plants are relatively young, around 10 years old.
The Darjeeling Mandarin, which received GI certificate on November 24 this year, has a huge demand because it is juicier and smaller in size than other variants commonly available in markets.
“Mandarin procurement from Sivitar is likely to be completed by this month. After that, we will procure the fruits Mirik Busty of Mirik subdivision of the district,” the official of the horticulture department said.
“The state bought the fruits from growers at ₹135 per kg. They will be sold in the market at ₹140 per kg,” an official said.
Orange festival
The NGO, Association for Conservation and Tourism (ACT), in collaboration with the Tourism Association Bihar and the Association for Buddhist Tour Operators, will organise a three-day Himalayan Orange Tourism Festival in Patna, Bihar, from December 11 to December 13. ACT convener Raj Basu said the main aim of the festival was to build a bridge between the hills and the plains to promote agro and rural tourism.