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Our Correspondent
Tamenglong, Dec. 17 (EMN): The 17th edition of the state-level ‘Orange Festival’ commenced on Saturday on the theme ‘Tamenglong orange overcome boundaries’ at Tamenglong district headquarter, 150 km west of Imphal.
Addressing the inaugural function, minister of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary and Transport, Khashim Vashum, thanked the district administrations of Tamenglong and Noney for organising the orange festival in a very grand manner.
“Let us also try to celebrate this orange festival in an orange farm where we can promote the orange of Tamenglong from next year,” the minister suggested, and urged the artistes of Manipur to always promote the festival as they have large followers.
In his presidential speech, minister Awangbow assured that the grievances of all the orange farmers will be heard as the chief minister has become the chairman of the state-level orange festival committee from this year onwards.
In his welcome note, Tamenglong MLA, Janghemlung, who is also the chief host of the orange festival, expressed gratitude to the orange farmers of the district and said the festival could be celebrated only because of the farmers’ contribution.
“We as a people of Tamenglong should welcome with open heart to all the people who came to witness this festival,” he said.
Manipur’s renowned film personality, Biju Ningombam, enthralled the crowd with a special song and requested the people of Tamenglong to promote the unique taste of ‘Tamenglong Komla.’
This year, the district administration has selected as many as 270 orange growers to participate in the best orange competition, wherein the experts of Central Agricultural University and Indian Council of Agricultural Research scrutinised and tested the oranges in five categories- sweetness, uniformity, size, colour and quality.
The cash prize for the winners of the best orange contest is INR 2 lakh, INR 1.5 lakh and INR 1 lakh for the first, second and third positions respectively.
Orange Queen contest, camping and adventure at different tourist spots, motor rally, musical night, Tamenglong Got Talent and seminar for orange growers are key highlights of the festival.