Seiyhama village to organise king chilli festival

KOHIMA — At least 2500 kilogram of Naga King chilli is expected to be displayed during the third edition of ‘Organic King Chilli-Naga Mircha Festival 2024,’ organised by Seiyhama village on September 6.

First introduced in 2022, the Naga Mircha Festival marked the celebration of bountiful harvest of the GI tagged product to Nagaland, Naga king chilli/ raja mircha. Locals claimed their raja mircha cultivated are organic and without chemical pesticides.

Seiyhama village, situated about 45 km from the state capital Kohima, is all set to organise the third edition in the village.

Announcing this year’s event during a press conference at the Kohima Press Club (KPC) office on Friday, Savio Metha, festival secretary, said that about 2500 kg of King Chilli, which is a week harvest, is expected to be put during the festival. The expected annual production of Raja mircha is about 14,000 kg, she added.

The village council chairman of Seiyhama, Lhoulalie Zumu, who is also the festival convenor, shared that the villagers initially struggled to market their produce. But now local farmers are proactively marketing their own products even without formal market linkages.

In addition to the fresh Naga King chilli, the farmers are making pickles, drying them and are exporting it to  outside Nagaland.

He further revealed that transition from traditional jhum cultivation to Raja mircha farming has revitalized the village’s economy and emerged as a sustainable source of income for the people.

Information and Publicity Secretary of the organising committee, Kevineizo Zumu, highlighted the activities that would taken up during the festival. The activities would include Naga king chilli eating competition, bamboo pole walking and catapult shooting.

The event would also be marked by exhibitions of dry, fresh and sapling varieties of Raja mircha, organic vegetables and local cuisine.

The coordinator of the festival, Lily Metha, pointed out the challenges the farmers have to face due to the unpredictable nature of farming. She stated that the farmers suffered infestation to the plants last year.

Meyasashi, director of Horticulture, would attend the inaugural function as the special guest.