Think of the growers, not the orange
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 11, 2014 -

Orange Queen MG Kapagongliu being flanked by Ajona Pamei First Runner up (L) and Miranda TK :: Pix - Hueiyen Lanpao

Festivals may be celebrated every year in the name of crops, fruits, flowers, animals, lakes, rivers and what not.

But the significance of such festive occasions often lasts for the day only, when VVIPs and VIPs turn up for a glimpse of the showcase being arranged for the purpose.

Each year, pineapple queens, orange queens, lemon queens, loktak queens etc etc are crowned after a wonderful catwalk on the stage where the important personalities of all ranks gather for a close watch.

It is indeed an extravaganza, which has nothing to do with the preservation of the crops and the animals for whom/which the grand ceremony is arranged.

In the past one decade, a number of Orange Festivals, Lemon Festivals, Pineapple Festivals etc. were organised in their grandest fashions.

However, no development in the production, transportation and business of such fruits has been witnessed.

In fact, Manipur has rich treasure of precious fruits like the orange, lemon and pineapple.

But, for want of proper tapping of the available fruit products, the lives of the growers of such crops remain unchanged for a long time.

Besides the application of scientific technology to the cultivation of fruits, the need of the growers is a profitable market.

Without the facilities for storage, transportation, processing and export of fruits, the condition of orange growers will ever remain stagnant.

Whatever name is given to their products, howsoever big may be the festivals, and wherever be the venues of such festivals, orange cultivators need their products to be exported either in raw or in the form of juices.

Announcement to name ‘Manipur Oranges’ as ‘Tamenglong Orange’ will be just a gimmick to many cultivators, unless and until the state government makes arrangements for ameliorating the economy of the cultivators by way of establishing a large fruit processing unit in the state.

In his speech during the opening of the Orange Festival 2014, the Manipur Chief Minister failed to gift any tangible presentation to the deprived orange cultivators of Tamenglong.

He seemed to be just informing the gathering that whatever to do for the orange growers is under consideration of the government.

The CM just acknowledged the need for Cold storage and Fruit Processing, which in his words are being considered by the state government.

In addition to christening Manipur oranges as ‘Tamenglong Orange’, the Chief Guest neither announced any plan nor set any deadline for the much needed Cold Storage or Fruit Processing facilities.

Simply shifting the venue of Orange Festival from Tamenglong district headquarters to Imphal will not bring complacency to the poor growers.

When all VVIPs/VIPs fix a rendezvous with the poor orange producers at least for a few hours once a year at their faraway home, the hardworking villagers of Tamenglong would surely feel their proximity to the state headquarters.

Hence, the Deputy Chief Minister’s statement for likely change of Festival venue to state capital does not seem to encourage the orange growers of Tamenglong.

We need to ponder over tapping the huge oranges grown in Tamenglong district so as to ameliorate the plight of the cultivators as well as to improve the state’s economy.

The Manipur government may come out with a huge plant to process the various fruits available in the state to reap the state’s potential resources before the onset of Orange Festival 2015.

Let us make the next year’s Festival a worthy occasion.