It's 'plum season' again in Ukhrul
Source: Chronicle News Service / R Lester Mamang

Ukhrul, June 10 2022: For the last fortnight or so, the presence of eye-catching reddish-purple plums, whether on the tree, in the vendor's shed, or on the kitchen table, has greeted the people, especially plum lovers.

It is 'plum season' in Ukhrul once again, and many town residents believe that 2022 is another lucky plum year.

This is due to a bumper crop of the delectable fruit this year, following a couple years of poor fruit set in the plum cycle.

"Unlike the previous years, we had a good harvest of plums this year", said a housewife in Phungreitang who owns two plum trees in her garden.

She said that she collected a few baskets of the fruit from her trees after a long time and shared them with her neighbours.

Another housewife Horawon, a resident of View-land, is of the same view.

She said that there has been a bumper harvest of plums this year compared to the previous years.

She claimed collecting around 25 baskets of plums from two different sellers who grow their own plum trees in the town.

According to Horawon, she procured the delicious fruit in huge quantity to prepare fermented fruit juice and other plum products for her business and the same would be out for sale after a few months of preparation.

She also said that she bought each of the basket (measured in tin) at Rs 200 from one buyer., and the rest at Rs 250 per basket from the other sellers.

Another resident in Viewland said that she bought the fruit at Rs 50 per Rasgolla can, a conventional measurement commonly practiced by local womenfolk.

Vendors who sell the season's fruit at the Ava Market in Phungreitang said that they are selling the fruit at Rs 50 a can and at Rs 300 per tin.

Two varieties of plum are popularly found in the district, locally called Apple-mix and Mango-mix plums.

During the season, plum growers can normally fetch Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 as many buyers and plum traders from Imphal come and buy huge quantity of plum fruits.

Ukhrul district is known for providing the perfect climate for the genus Prunus and its high yield and almost every household in the township as well as in interior villages grow plum trees in their respective yards, apart from many dedicated plum orchards.

However, in the past few years, many of the plum trees failed to bear much fruits and this left many plum growers and vendors high and dry.

Ukhrul town and almost all the villages in the environs including Shirui, Langdang, Khangkhui, Halang and Hungpung villages are known to be major plum producers in the district.

Many believed that the phenomenon may be due to heavy thunderstorms which caused extensive damages to the plants during its blooming time.

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