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One of the orange orchards in Rusoma village. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Kohima | January 8
Celebrating the sweet and juicy oranges that Rüsoma village produces, come January 10, it will be host to the first ever Orange Festival in the heart of the village— a place that is also home to the famed legend of Sopfünuo.
Season after season, farmers of Rüsoma have delighted in seeing oranges grow on trees they have planted years ago. Now, apart from individuals who own orange orchards spreading across several acres of land, a majority of the households in this village also grow orange in their backyards, remarkably transforming the economy of the village.
In the previous year, the village harvested oranges worth about 50 lakh while a single orange farmer alone produced oranges worth 8 lakh. Despite it being a tedious job cultivating oranges, sometimes requiring farmers to check on the plants even at midnight, their efforts have been paid off, with even a household growing oranges in the backyard yielding them an earning of at least Rs 15000 each.
The first Orange Festival has been conceptualized by Thejakielie Zuyie and Kevitsu Doze who formed Bostimanu Entertainment with the view to give entertainment to rural areas. “We want to promote rural events where the less known is made known to the urban and take up rural initiatives,” Kevitsu Doze says while adding that, “we want to initiate events in rural areas, wherever there is potential- events which will impact the farmers. It can be Kholar (kidney beans) festival, Cabbage festival or any festival that can have an impact on the village.”
In respect of tourism, he states that “locally also, there are many areas in Nagaland we don’t know. So this is an initiative to promote produce from a particular village/area, or landscapes as tourist attractions. Any village, area or tribe can approach us and we can do something great for that place.”
Highlighting about the upcoming Orange Festival that is scheduled for January 10-11, 2020, Thejakielie Zuyie says that without the orange growers, there would be no festival. As part of the festival, he adds that “we also want to promote our organic vegetables and the village is known for its handicraft like basket making. We will have stalls to showcase and sell different produces from the village while adventure lovers can also camp for the night.”
Further stating that the event will be a plastic-free zone, he adds, “bring your own bags to buy oranges.” The price of the oranges has been fixed at Rs 80 per kg by the Rüsoma Village Council for the festival. Visitors will also have the opportunity to pluck oranges from the trees for the freshest orange juice.
Apart from these, he says, those interested will be given a tour of the village and among others also visit the place of the legend of Sopfünuo. “We have very interesting competitions where a citation and cash prize will be given to the grower of the biggest orange and also for the sweetest orange,” he further enlightens. The competitions for these two categories will be held on the 2nd day of the festival (January 11).
Other highlights of the two-day festival will include Fresh Orange Juice, Pluck your own oranges, Organic vegetables, Food stalls, Zip line, Handicrafts, Kids Bouncy, Family activities, BBQ, Orchard Tour, Camping, and Music.
In their endeavor to promote rural tourism, the duo behind Bostimanu Entertainment express gratitude to the village council and youth organisation of Rüsoma village for supporting them in all possible way towards making their first initiative – the first Orange Festival a success. The Festival will begin at 10:00 am on both the days.
