Tripura govt helping farmers with orange cultivation

The Tripura government is helping farmers grow orange in new areas of the state, Agriculture minister Pranajit Sinharoy has said.

The state government has given 200 families with Rs 15,000 each to grow orange in Baramura hill range in West Tripura district.

"We are trying to expand orange production in different parts of Tripura because the climatic condition supports orange productions in the state. For the first time, orange was grown in 500 hectare of land in Baramura hill range in West Tripura district," Sinharoy told a press conference here on Wednesday.

He said in one hectare of land 80,000 pieces of oranges are grown. In 500 hectares of land 40,000,000 pieces of oranges were grown this time in Baramura range.

Orange is also being grown in Ampi and Killa blocks of Gomati district and Sakhan hills of Dhalai district.

Earlier orange cultivation was only done in Jampui hills in North Tripura district.

"It has been observed that productivity of orange plants has come down in Jampui hills and the areas under cultivation have also shrunk as farmers have turned to other profit-making crops like coffee, beetle nuts and ginger," Sinharoy said.

A state Horticulture department official said earlier, orange was produced in 12,000 hectares of land in Jampui hills of North Tripura district, which now has come down to 492 hectares.