TAMENGLONG, Dec 16 - The 16th Orange Festival which aims to promote tourism as well as provide an opportunity to orange farmers to display their produce to potential buyers began on Monday at Tamenglong, 150 km west of Imphal.
Exhibition of oranges and handicraft, as well as presentation of colourful traditional dance and music and songs by choirs representing 28 churches around the hill town, marked the opening day of the three-day festival.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Horticulture and Soil Conservation Minister Th Shyam Kumar, Public Health Engineering Department Minister L Dikho, and MLAs Samuel Jendai (Tamenglong) and Awangbou Newmai (Tamei) besides Autonomous District Council, Tamenglong chairman Namsinrei Panmei attended the opening ceremony.
Inaugurating the festival, Chief Minister N Biren Singh assured the orange farmers that the government would increase financial help from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, and hoped that the �Tamenglong Komla� (Tamenglong orange) will get its GI (geographical indication) tag within three months.
Biren Singh gave an assurance that the government will buy orange products from Tamenglong and export them in large scale after value addition. He also spoke on the ongoing Rs 273-crore Tamenglong-Khongsang road construction and Rs 50-crore water supply scheme, and informed the people that the upcoming Assembly session will discuss framing a new rule for the newly introduced Inner Line Permit system in the state.
Altogether 370 orange growers are taking part in this year�s festival.
Tamenglong, the orange belt of Manipur, produces more than 60 per cent of the state�s total oranges. The region is also known for picturesque locations including the Tharon Cave, the Barak Waterfalls, the Bunning Meadows, and the Zeilad Lake which is flocked by migratory birds.
Tasinang Gangmei of Tabanglong village bagged the coveted �best orange grower� prize worth Rs 2 lakh, while Pouchunliu of Sangrungpang and Gaisuakliu Kamei of Nungba were honoured with the second (Rs 1 lakh) and third (Rs 75,000) best orange grower prizes. The Orange Queen 2019 contest will be held on the concluding day of the festival on Wednesday.
