Kohima: Nagaland’s Rüsoma Village, where grit and passion bloom into oranges, has nurtured the annual Orange Festival since 2020, a vibrant celebration drawing citrus lovers from all corners.
Each juicy orange in the village whispers a tale of the unwavering spirit of the orange farmers. For over a decade, these farmers nurtured their dreams, and now, Rüsoma village basks in the golden glow of citrus success.
Just 13 KM from Kohima town, Rüsoma Village greets visitors with the sight of lush orange trees in full bloom during the months from December to February. From orchards to kitchen gardens, these citrus fruits embrace the village.
EastMojo caught up with orange farmers in Rüsoma to understand how the blood, sweat and tears of these farmers for decades are enabling them to gradually dominate the local market.
Fifty-four-year-old Keneileü Neihu shared how her journey as an orange farmer began over two decades ago. “My husband and I are both farmers. In 2001, he suggested that we should explore orange farming as we were dependent on paddy and jhum cultivation, living hand to mouth. I obeyed him and we began to plant hundreds of orange saplings on our field,” she recalled.
Since then, Keneileü and her husband have toiled in the orchard for years. For orange growers, nurturing the fruit trees is crucial, even before and after the trees bear fruits.
“Protecting our trees is a constant battle, especially against those tree borers and the eggs they lay. It takes five or six rounds of manual removal each year, but we’ve been doing it for decades. We repeat the same process every year for every single tree till this day,” she said.
Major infestation, according to her, happens during the months from May to August. The mother of four said that her sons would also join them to maintain the orchard which is located at a walkable distance near the village.
The fruit trees bore the first fruits after nine long years of wait. However, it was only in the past five years that they began to sell oranges. When the oranges ripen, the 54-year-old said that she would also carry a bag and climb the orange trees to pluck the fruits.
“We were earning about Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 a year but last year, we generated over Rs 1,00,000. This revenue generation is helping me and my family a lot,” she shared.
Starting from December till February, it is a regular affair for Keneileü to travel to Kohima to sell the oranges.
“I leave the village by 5 AM. One of my sons who drives a taxi would drop me off at Kohima town where I sit by the roadside to sell oranges. I would buy tea and rice from a nearby hotel and sustain the day. By 4 PM, I leave Kohima and reach home only after it gets dark,” she said.
The street vendor said that she makes about Rs 10,000 in a day as she sells oranges for Rs 130 per kilo. “I am grateful to the almighty for the bountiful harvest,” she shared.
Vilkuolie Keyientsu, a 44-year-old farmer and village leader, had recognised the need for orange cultivation much earlier though he began orange farming in 2015.
“When I was residing in Kohima, Lotha street vendors from Wokha used to bring oranges for sale at the Local ground during the Hornbill festival. Since they brought it in large quantities, many oranges got crushed. I used to go to the ground early morning around that time when their goods carrier would reach the ground. Since they would separate the good fruits, I take home the crushed oranges, separate the seeds and sow them in the flower pots,” he said.
After two to three years, he said that the saplings were transplanted to the orchard. “Unlike other fruit trees, an orange tree needs a lot of care and is difficult to maintain. We need to keep the trees at least 13-14ft apart and require timely maintenance. The attack of the tree borers is the most challenging as we have to constantly look after the orange trees,” he said.
In an orchard with over two thousand orange trees, Keyientsu said that local labourers were hired from time to time to kill tree borers and remove weeds. “At one cleanup session, I spent about Rs 30,000. Rather than sowing new saplings, I am focusing on the trees that are now bearing fruits, as orange trees can bear fruits to their maximum after 16-18 years,” he said.
Last year, Keyientsu sold about 4,000 KG of oranges. This year, he aims to sell 10,000 KG. Through word of mouth, Keyientsu has created a loyal customer base within Kohima. As the fruit trees grew bigger, he hoped the trees would bear more fruits to further expand the supply to other parts of the state.
From seasoned farmers to young academics like Dr Kevineituo Bier, a 35-year-old assistant professor at Nagaland University, a shared passion for orange cultivation is blossoming in Rüsoma. Blending his educational expertise with the hands-on wisdom of the village elders, Bier is applying his academic rigour to orange cultivation and inspiring a new generation of farmers.
The agri-science educator told EastMojo that he developed an interest in farming at a young age. “My father, a farmer, had instilled the interest in me and I picked up the interest as I grew up. Growing up, I saw my family practice an integrated farming system where we grew oranges alongside other vegetables and cattle rearing,” he said.
He observed that orange farming is labour intensive and there is a year-round need to maintain the orchard. During its peak season in January and February, he said that the oranges taste the sweetest.
While the bounty brings a surge in income, the perishable nature of the fruit creates a logistical nightmare. Besides the pre-harvest challenges, he said that post-harvest technologies and facilities need to be introduced.
“There is a need to build cold storage to preserve the fruits and increase the shelf-life of the fruits as oranges are perishable goods. Another challenge is that the only market available is the local market, and it is concentrated only in Kohima. There is a need to expand the market and also introduce food processing units so that orange products can be explored and the farmers’ economy can be boosted,” he added.
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Undoubtedly, the Orange Festival has opened the gates for orange growers as it established a local market link and also attracted the attention of the state government.
During the 2024 Orange Festival, Nagaland’s first woman minister, Salhoutuonuo Kruse, who holds the portfolio for Women Resource Development and Horticulture, announced that Rüsoma has been selected as a ‘Horti model village’ for the year 2025. Through this scheme, it is expected that farmers, including orange growers, will get a major boost.
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