Guwahati, Jan 3 : Orange cultivators in Assam’s Kamrup District have harvested a bumper crop of oranges this season.

The bumper crop in Hakomari village has been possible because of the efforts of the ‘Technology Mission’ launched by the Assam Government’s Agriculture Department.

Kamrup District is traditionally an orange growing area. It borders Meghalaya and is dominated by Garo tribals.

In the government’s Technology Mission, the orange and orchard owners were given extensive training in modern scientific methods of nurturing orange trees.

As a result the quality and the quantity of the oranges have been overwhelming.

Now the farmers are getting around 800 to 1000 oranges from a single tree.

"The production has gone up by nearly 40 per cent since last year and we have a local market near Boko Bazaar, we take the oranges there to sell them. The officials are helping us to make a cold storage for our oranges," said Timoti Marak, orange cultivator.

"The production this year is very high because we have taken measures for plantations by ensuring proper pesticides. The steps that we have taken this year have resulted in much higher production," said Hemanta Sangma, another orange cultivator.

Under the Technology Mission government’s purpose is not only the expansion of the orange cultivation but they want to rejuvenate the old trees also.

Local agriculture development officials aim to increase the production in order to benefit the cultivators.

"Our aim is to increase our production to 1000 to 1500, if we get 1000 to 1500 production at a time, so definitely a farmer can earn around 1 million per hectares of orange production," said Monoranjan Das Kalita, Agriculture Development Officer, West Kamrup District.

Orange cultivators are hopeful of the market’s significant growth in the coming days.

Indian market is earning significant foreign exchange, as India is a major exporter of oranges to the Middle East and Europe. (ANI)