Due to the Cherry Blossom Festival for the last few days, the joy of locals of Shillong is on the climax. Be aware that this festival symbolizes the advent of Blossom. It is celebrated annually. This year the festival has started on 8th November. This is the second cherry blossom festival. Therefore, its organizers have added the international word in its name and named it ‘India International Cherry Blossom Festival’.

key points

• The Forest and Environment Minister of Meghalaya has declared the Cherry Blossom Festival as ‘a celebration of nature’.
• Blossom comes from the year 2014 in the first week of November. Organized ‘Festival of Bio Resources and Vital Resources’, an institution of the Government of India, organizes this festival. Rainfall of this year was irregular, it was rains till the last week of October. But cold weather should be required to visit the cherry trees. Since there is a great difference in day and night temperature in Shillong, so it is late in coming in the blossom.
• Cherry blossoms in countries like Japan appear in the spring. The Japanese name for the Japanese cherry blossom tree is ‘Prunus yedoensis’ which is commonly known as ‘Somi Yoshima’.
• The scientific name of Cherry Blossom in North-Eastern India, primarily in Shillong is ‘Prunus’ cerasoides. It is also known as ‘Wild Himalayan Cherry Blossoms in Autumn’.
• Its fruits are eatable but during the blossom season these trees are filled with light pink and white flowers.
• This festival was organized in the second week of November last year. This time the flowers started to fall. So this festival is being celebrated this year. If flowers are not coming this year, it indicates that climate factors are affecting the life cycle of plant species. Cherry trees grow automatically in forests but forest officials have planted at least 2,000 trees in Shillong.
• From May 2015 to June 2017, the State Forest Department planted nearly 5,000 cherry trees in Shillong and its adjoining areas. In the next five years, these trees will be completely filled with flowers.
• Some local citizens of Shillong believe that their flowers seem to be near Shillong peak in Upper Shillong. First of all, these flowers are seen in height and after this they enter the city in the next few days.

Challenges

• Experts working on climate change conditions in the north-east have highlighted the widespread need of flowers (which are important for economic, cultural and beauty). According to him, some plants are highly sensitive to climate change and it has been observed that blossoms are delayed due to climate change. Crops like paddy, potatoes, mustard and vegetables are also affected due to rainy season and rain in the winter after monsoon.
• The organizers have decided to take some technical help from Japan to determine the date of this festival next year, so that the blossom state of cherry can be predicted.