Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) hosted the first World Orange Festival in association with UPL and Bajaj Electricals in Nagpur recently. The aim of this festival was to acknowledge the hard work by the farmers to harvest oranges of the finest quality and to maintain the uniqueness of the ‘Orange City’ in the State.
The inauguration of this festival was graced by Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra in the presence of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping and Water Resources, Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture Minister, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of State for Agriculture, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, State Energy Minister and Guardian Minister, Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism and (EGS), Government of Maharashtra, Madan Yerawar, State Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, Nitin Gadre, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Government of Maharashtra, Vijay Waghmare, Managing Director, MTDC, Aashutosh Rathod, Joint Managing Director, MTDC, Swati Kale, General Manager, MTDC among other dignitaries.
Nagpur oranges are well-known across the world. The main goal of the festival is to build and create interest for orange producers and to encourage them to produce best quality of oranges. Spain has “La tomatino” and Germany has “Oktoberfest” and now, India has hosted and organised “The World Orange Festival.” Among the varieties, the Nagpur Mandarin has been recognised worldwide. It depicts that the orange harvested has unique quality and character due to its climatic conditions. GI status has offered a privilege to sell their oranges in both domestic and international markets. The Festival ensures that orange plantation in Maharashtra will contribute for the development of the economy overall.
Apart from highlighting the pride of the Orange City Nagpur, the festival had several events including tours to the orange plantations, setting up of oranges by art students, interesting cuisines, cooking contests, culinary workshops by celebrity chefs such as Vicky Ratnani and Australian Master chef, Sarah Tood. There were musical performances by Benny Dayal and Rahul Deshpande among other cultural activities. The seminars and exhibitions had farmers from various states explaining the diversity of oranges. The Global Orange Cultivators and Expertise from Turkey, Israel and South Africa attended the festival to position Nagpur on the global map as an emerging winter destination.
Rawal said, “Nagpur is blessed with fertile landscape and enjoys suitable climatic condition which is favourable for good crop produce. MTDC and the Government of Maharashtra together are promoting the first World Orange festival 2017 in the city of oranges in Nagpur. The aim is to acknowledge the hard work done by the farmers to grow oranges of the finest quality in this district. I am sure through this festival we will be able to prepare a niche place for ourself in the world map and will be able to attract more travellers in this region.”
Yerawar added, “The main goal of the festival is to build and create interest for orange producers, and to encourage them to produce best quality oranges. With this festival, we would also like to ensure that orange plantation in Maharashtra contribute for the development of our economy. The seminars and exhibitions will have farmers from various state who will explain diversity of oranges.”
