Bengal To Work With Foreign Experts To Tackle The Issue
The famous Darjeeling oranges are facing a significant decline in crop production due to the Dieback disease. Lesser reasons for the decline are also attributed to pest attacks, shortage of quality saplings, and reduced soil fertility. Currently, about 10,000 farmers are involved in the production of mandarin oranges in Darjeeling and Kalimpong in North Bengal, that have come to be known as the popular juicy “Darjeeling oranges”.
To tackle the problem, the state government is engaging experts from the US, Iran, Nepal, and Bhutan. Researchers and experts from these countries with collaborate with their Indian counterparts in a workshop being organized in Kalimpong. Experts from Nepal and Bhutan will be physically attending the workshop while 2 experts from Florida, USA, and 1 from Iran will take part virtually. The aim of the workshop is to understand how experts work in foreign locations, imbibe their best practices, and adopt beneficial technologies and strategies to help local farmers.
A recent exhaustive study by Rakesh Roy, Basu Deo Kharga and Mendel Wangchuk Moktan from the Darjeeling Krishi Vigyan Kendra, on the perceived major reasons for the decline of mandarin oranges in North-Bengal, particularly Darjeeling and Kalimpong, included an assortment of factors like socio-economic, biological, environmental or climatic, and institutional. The perceived constraints as mentioned in the study are technical, financial, storage and marketing, and general constraints that include a reluctance to cultivate the crop.
Traders Across India Who Buy Large Stocks Of The Fruit From Siliguri Say Output Is Down Drastically
North Bengal counted crores of rupees with the trading of oranges from November to January every year. Many traders from across the country used to assemble at the Regulated market, the biggest wholesale market in the Northeast that is situated in Siliguri, the largest city of North Bengal to would procure large stocks of the seasonal fruit and transport it to all parts of the country.
Meanwhile, the situation has changed over the last couple of years. The production level of oranges in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong has gone down.
According to fruit wholesale market traders in Siliguri, the output of oranges has gone down drastically.
Bengali