King Chilli Festival in Seiyhama Village (Botsa), Nagaland 2022 | 3rd edition on 6 September 2024.

The Organic #King #Chilli – Naga Mircha Festival 2024 will be hosted for the third year in a row at #Seiyhama Village, Kohima district, on September 6. The event will be held at the Cultural Hall Seiyhama and will feature Meyasashi, the Director of Horticulture, as the guest of honor.

The festival promises a variety of king chili products, including dry and fresh chillies, pounded and pickled items, and organic vegetables and fruits. Savio Metha, General Secretary of the organizing committee, announced that tin-boxed king chillies would be sold at prices lower than the market rate.

Attendees can also enjoy traditional Seiyhama cuisine at the food stalls. The festival will feature a range of activities, such as king chili eating contests and traditional games like bamboo walking, bamboo climbing, war cry, and catapult shooting. Competitions will be open to everyone, with cash prizes for the winners. Additionally, awards will be given for the highest production and best quality of king chilies among cultivators.

This year, around 2,500 kilograms of king chilies, equivalent to nearly 700 tins, are expected to be showcased. The festival, initiated in 2022, was designed to highlight the collaboration between Seiyhama Village leaders and king chili growers. Lhoulalie Zumu, the festival’s convener and chairman, mentioned that the village grows four varieties of Raja mircha, distinguished by their color variations. The event is sponsored by the Horticulture Department.

Nagaland holds the first-ever ‘Naga Mircha (King Chilli) Festival’ at Seiyhama village in Kohima District in 2022.

Considered as the world’s hottest chilli – Naga Mircha (King Chilli) has constantly been placed on the top five in the list of the world’s hottest chilies based on the SHUs. Also referred to as ‘Raja Mircha’, ‘Bhoot Jolokia’ or ‘Ghost Pepper’, this chilli attained Geographical Indication (GI) certification in 2008. It belongs to the genus Capsicum of the family Solanaceae.

‘Naga Chilli’ or ‘Raja Mircha’ is an indigenous crop of Nagaland believed to have originated from Nagaland’s Zeliangrong region; and is extensively grown in Peren, Mon, Kohima and Dimapur.

It is modest in size and matures to a vivid red colour. The crop must be planted in soil that has the perfect amount of water for germination and the right amount of sun rays to reach its flaming best; because it is quite sensitive to weather conditions.

Cultivation of Naga chilli thrives best across bamboo and banana plantations; as well as on sites that have been utilized for cultivation for decades.

Prior to cultivation, these bamboo fields are slashed and burned, in an effort to ensure optimum soil quality and higher degree of hotness in the chillies.

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