Origin of Orange:-
Orange has a long, convoluted history, in part because it is not a wild fruit. Rather, it is a carefully refined hybrid of mandarin and pomelo. Contenders for the countries that first cultivated the orange are northeastern India, southern China, and possibly Indochina. While pummelos originate in India, mandarins came from China.
Several ancient civilizations engaged in citrus cultivation: the Chinese, Indians, Jews, Persians, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans, to name a few. Each of these groups use citrus in one ceremony or another: the Jews buy etrogs for Sukkot, Christians placed oranges on Christmas trees, and the Chinese exchange citrus during the New Year.
All of these groups often traded—or forcibly acquired, in the event of war—citrus seeds, cultivation techniques and technology. One of the greatest periods for oranges was the Andalusian period, occurring from the 13th century onward: Improvements in irrigation created a veritable citrus belt throughout Spain, many of which created the orange cultivars best recognized today: Seville, Valencia, Zaragoza, and Granada, to name a few.
In the mid 1400s, Italian traders brought oranges fruit to Europe, and the Spaniards introduced them throughout South America and Central America. The United States owes Spanish voyager, Ponce de Leon, for bringing citrus to Florida in 1513. Today, oranges are one of the most widely cultivated fruits in the world.
Availability of Orange in India:-
Oranges are a major crop for India, ranking only after bananas and mangos in volume. 2010 figures published by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization ranks India third in the world for oranges, behind only Brazil and the United States. Combined, these three countries account for almost half of the world’s production of 68 million tons. India exports sweet oranges to countries including Sri Lanka, France, the UK, Belgium, and Bangladesh.
The country’s orange season varies by region. In the north, orange season is from December to February; in the South, the season is notably longer from October through March. Central and western India’s season is November through January, as well as March through May.
Orange production is concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The areas producing mandarins are Coorg, Vidharba, Darjeeling, Meghalaya, Assam, Nagpur, Akola and Punjab. These regions have the ideal mandarin growing conditions of high rainfall in summer and humidity. Areas producing sweet oranges are Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Nagpur, and Akola.