By Rafe Calder
The fruit is called a Nagpur orange. It is not an orange. According to Wikipedia, it is a mandarin, Citrus reticulata, grown in Nagpur, Maharashtra, with a pockmarked exterior and sweet, juicy pulp.
The name on paper
Wikipedia says a Geographical Indication took effect in April 2014. Down To Earth, an environment magazine, reported in September 2014 that the tag had been given “recently” under India’s 1999 GI Act. It names the fruit Citrus reticulata Blanco, also called the Nagpur mandarin, and ties it to Nagpur district and the Vidarbha region.
It describes the flavour as a “unique sweet-sour” with a matchless aroma, which it attributes to an acid-sugar blend and to the soil and agro-climatic conditions of Vidarbha. It says approval rests on five parameters, among them size, colour, number of seeds and the chemistry of the juice. And it says the tag protects against other varieties being sold as Nagpur oranges, and that a logo is reserved for the product.
Two crops a year
The fruit follows two flowering rounds, called bahar in the sources. They have names:
- Ambia bahar, the earlier crop.
- Mrig bahar, the later one.
Wikipedia says Ambiya fruit is available from September to December and is slightly sour, and that Mrig follows in January and is sweeter. It adds that farmers usually grow one or the other.
The GI application form tells a different story about timing. It says Ambia bahar flowers in January and February, with fruit available in November and December, and that Mrig bahar blooms in June and July, with fruit available in February and March. It also gives average fruit weights of about 100 g for Mrig and 125 g for Ambia, and sugar levels (total soluble solids) of 11 to 14 degrees Brix for Mrig against 8 to 10 for Ambia. The source says that table is partly garbled in the copy we read, so those numbers are uncertain.
We show both sets of months. Wikipedia and the application agree on the sweet and sour split, and both place one crop’s fruit at the end of the year. They do not agree on when each begins or ends.
Where it is actually grown
The headline is Nagpur. The paperwork is wider. The application, filed by Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth in Akola, lists these areas.
- Maharashtra: Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Washim, Buldhana, Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Beed, Ahmednagar and Osmanabad.
- Madhya Pradesh: Betul, Khandwa, Chhindwara and Seoni.
By our count that is seventeen districts in two states. An application is a request, not the final registered area, so we do not claim this is the protected area.
FreshPlaza, a trade news site, puts the fruit’s heart in the east of Maharashtra. It says India produces around 10 million tons of oranges a year, led by Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region. Amravati district, it says, accounts for 45 per cent of the state’s orange output, at 1.2 to 1.5 million tons a year, with Nagpur district following closely. Note what that does to the name: the district that gives it a name is not the largest grower, if that site is right.
The fruit after the harvest
FreshPlaza says the Central Citrus Research Institute in Nagpur developed an orange variety above one kilogram in weight, suited to juice. Lower grades, it says, are made into juice and oil products, and it names two processing plants without giving us anything we can test. It also says the nearest export-capable facility for Vidarbha growers is in Mumbai, not at Nagpur airport, and lists Dubai, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan as current markets, with demand growing in Saudi Arabia, the United States and Europe.
How growers get the label
Down To Earth says growers must register under the GI Act as certified growers. It names a growers’ body, MahaOrange, and the Akola university as involved in the process. The article does not say who filed the application. The application form itself names the university. We leave that as a difference in coverage rather than a conflict.
Dates in order
- 1999: GI Act passed, according to Down To Earth.
- April 2014: GI took effect, according to Wikipedia.
- September 2014: Down To Earth reports the tag as recent.
Side by side
Fruit season: September to December and January (Wikipedia), or November to December and February to March (application form). Place: Nagpur and Vidarbha (Down To Earth), seventeen districts in two states (application). Leading district: Nagpur by name, Amravati by output (FreshPlaza).
What we left out
We left out growers’ fees and the state subsidy talk in the news article, the names of private processors, export tonnages, and the plant-science detail of the application form: essential oil, pomace and acidity, where the copy we read was unclear. We also left out any claim about health or storage, because none of our sources makes one we could check.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia; Down To Earth, an environmental news magazine; FreshPlaza, a trade news site; and the GI application form, a primary document that is not a registration certificate. We left out prices, fees, growers’ registration costs and company names.
Quick answers
Is a Nagpur orange an orange? According to Wikipedia, no. It is a mandarin, Citrus reticulata, with a pockmarked exterior and sweet, juicy pulp.
When is Nagpur orange season? Wikipedia says Ambiya fruit comes September to December and Mrig in January. The GI application says Ambia fruit is available in November and December.
Does the Nagpur orange have a GI tag? Yes. Wikipedia says it took effect in April 2014, and Down To Earth reported the tag that September.
Related on this site: bishnupur-terracotta-temples-bankura-mela, kashmir-saffron-pampore-grades-harvest, sanganeri-block-print-sanganer-jaipur
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