Buldhana Oranges Shegaon Cooperative Maharashtra

Buldhana in the Buldhana district of Maharashtra is part of the Vidarbha orange belt that produces the famous Nagpur mandarin orange variety across Amravati, Nagpur, Wardha, and Buldhana districts. The Vidarbha orange is India most consumed citrus fruit and is grown by cooperative societies of small-scale farmers on rain-fed and well-irrigated plots. Peak harvest is October-December. Cooperative APMC markets and Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board regulate prices. Buldhana district is also known for the Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj temple at Shegaon, attracting millions of pilgrims annually and supporting a cooperative temple economy of prasad sweet distribution, accommodation, and transport. The district has one of Maharashtra largest cooperative banks — the Buldhana Urban Cooperative Bank — which operates a cooperative credit network serving rural and semi-urban borrowers across Vidarbha. The orange cooperative model has been replicated in Buldhana to link small growers directly to cold storage and processing units.