Orange Cultivation in ‘Dambuk’ Region of Arunachal Pradesh, India: Production Conditions and Marketing Challenges

Abstract

The Dumbuk region in Arunachal Pradesh is considered as “The Orange Bowl of Arunachal” due to its significance in orange cultivation and its Geographical Indication (GI) status. This paper studies the present production conditions and marketing challenges of orange cultivation in Dambuk region of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is based on primary data collected from a field survey in 2025. The results show that the orange cultivation farmers in Dambuk region of Arunachal Pradesh follow traditional, organic and chemical based methods of farming. The paid out cost of cultivation and harvest (excluded implicit cost owned inputs) is around Rs 71 thousands per hectare and it increases with farm size. The average yield is around 63 quintals per hectare which increases along the farm size. The net revenue stands around Rs 95.8 thousands per hectare which increases along the farm size. The Revenue-Cost Ratio for all the farmers stands at 1.34 indicating given owned resources, a farmer receives net return of Rs 1.34 for every one rupee spent in orange cultivation in Dambuk region. The main marketing channel for selling the orange production is local markets. The export market is less. The produce is sold majorly to middlemen and wholesale traders and less to retailers and direct consumers. The main production constraints faced by the orange cultivators are high and rising infestation of pests and diseases, high input cost, climate variability, scarcity of labor, and lack of water. The main market constraints are lack of storage facilities, middlemen paying less prices, price fluctuation, shortage of labor, and high transportation cost. A significant proportion of farmers do not want to expand their production in future because of high prevalence of pest & diseases, climate variations and price fluctuations. The study concludes that orange cultivation is crucial for Dambuk region in Arunachal Pradesh for providing income and livelihoods to majority people; hence it needs to be promoted with government support. The farmers suggest for more public investment in developing agricultural infrastructure like transport, irrigation, marketing, storage, export facilities; develop new technology and farming methods to address pest & disease issues and minimum support price or price assurance scheme for price stability.