Production of Horticultural Crops up total Production touches 219 Million Tonnes

There has been a significant improvement in the production of horticultural crops in recent years. Horticultural crops including fruits, vegetable and spices occupy an area of 17.7 million hectares, producing 218.7 million tonnes of horticultural produce.

            Fruits and vegetables together constitute about 92.3 per cent of the total horticultural production in the country. The area under fruit crops is 6.6 million hectares with a total production of 75.8 million tonnes.

            While India is the second largest producer of fruits in the world, it is the largest producer of fruits like mango, banana, papaya, sapota, pomegranate and Aonla. About 40 per cent of the world’s mangoes and 30 per cent of the world’s bananas and papayas are produced in India. In terms of productivity of grapes, India ranks first in the world.

            Vegetables are an important crop in the horticulture sector and occupy an area of 8.2million hectares with a total production of 137.7 million tonnes.

            India is the second largest producer of vegetables after China and is a leader in the production of peas and okra. Besides, India occupies the second position in the production of brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower and onion and third position in potato and tomato in the world. Vegetables that are produced in abundance are potato, tomato, brinjal, okra, and cucurbits.

            As regards spices, the area under cultivation of spices is more or less stable with 2.9 million hectares, total production of spices has increased from 5.08 million tonne in 2008-09 to 5.37 million tonne in 2010-11.

            (production in million tonnes)