In Manipur’s Tamenglong district a team of scientists have stumbled across a rare wild orange species. The team chanced upon the species during a trip aimed at inspecting a village in the district in order to declare it an important biodiversity heritage site.
The newly discovered endangered citrus fruit is probably the “most primitive” one in the world, a DDK Imphal news report said. All varieties of oranges found in the world could possibly be from this orange, it added.
Earlier, scientists believed this orange species was found only in Meghalaya’s Garo Hills.
Tamenglong, which is located about 140 km from Manipur capital Imphal, is the centre of oranges of the state. About 80% of oranges produced in the state are from Tamenglong. The district is situated at an altitude of 1,260 m above the sea level.
The climate and the soil of the hill district are well suited for the production of oranges using 40% of the total landmass.
