Wokha: Mandarin orange or Santra are loose skin oranges belonging to the species of Citrus reticulata. There are many cultivated varieties of mandarin orange in India such as Khasi mandarin, Naga mandarin, Hill mandarin, Nagpur mandarin, Coorg mandarin and Kinnow mandarin.
Kinnow mandarin cultivation is a recent introduction in Nagaland undertaken by the Department of Horticulture, which is now gaining popularity among the farmers, Wokha District Horticulture Officer Meyasashi informed in a press note.
In Nagaland, sub-mountain regions located upto an elevation of about 1300 metres above main sea level are found to be suitable for its cultivation. Usually budded Kinnow orange saplings are planted in half- moon terraced field at a distance of 15-feet apart.
The tree comes to fruiting in about 3-4 years after planting. On an average each tree produced about 450 fruits per year. Thus one hectare plantation yield about 2,20,000 fruit per year.
The fruit size of Nagaland Kinnow is smaller (8-10 Nos per kg) as compared to Kinnow from Punjab (5-6 Nos per kg). The Kinnow fruits are having excellent appearance, skin golden orange when fully ripe and rind of medium thickness and leathery to soft, acidity moderate with fine sugar/acid blend, fruit very juicy and good flavoured. The advantage of Kinnow cultivation is that fruits are harvested during January-March when there is no supply of other oranges in the market.
