India is set to record the highest ever production of horticulture crops, including spices, fruits and vegetables, in 2016-17. The production is projected to be 300 million tonnes (mt) as per the third advance estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry on Thursday.
Though the country has witnessed at least 4 per cent deficient monsoon this year, horticulture production estimate is nearly 5 per cent higher than the previous year when production was 286.18 mt. The current year will be the fifth straight year when horticulture production will surpass the foodgrain production despite deficient rainfall during Kharif crop season.
According to the latest revised estimates, which see 1.58 per cent higher over the second advance estimates issued in May, the fruits production is estimated at 93.7 million tonnes which is 3.9 per cent higher than that of the previous year while production of vegetables is projected to be around 176 million tonnes which is 4.2 per cent higher than the production in 2015-16.
A record production is expected in case of vegetables such as sitaphal (16 mt), peas (52 mt), pointed gourd (2 mt) onion (217 mt), beans (24 mt), bittergoud (11 mt), bottlegourd (25 mt), brinjal (123 mt), cabbage (87 mt), capsicum (33 mt), carrot (13 mt), cauliflower (84 mt) and cucumber (12 mt).
“The record production of papaya (61 mt), guava (36 mt), muskmelon (9 mt), litchi (5 mt), watermelon (21 mt), walnut (2 mt), strawberry (5 mt), pineapple (19 mt), pomegranate (25 mt) jackfruit (17 mt) is expected in the third advance estimate,” said officials of the Agriculture Ministry.
In the current year, tomato production is estimated at 19.5 mt, which is 4.3 per cent higher than the previous year. The major tomato growing States are Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and Gujarat. With 21.7 million tonnes estimated onion production, the country will see an increase of 3.8 per cent from the previous year.
The major onion producing States are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat.
The third advances estimates show an increase in area under the horticulture crops from 24.5 million hectare to 25.1 million hectare in 2016-17, recording an increase of 2.6 per cent over previous year. “The record production of horticulture crops in the country during 2016-17 is estimated to be around 300 million tonnes, which is 4.8 per cent higher as compared to the previous year,” it said.
The Agricultural Ministry’s estimates, based on information provided by the States and Union Territories, show that even the area under the horticulture crops has recorded an increase from 24.5 million hectare to 25.1 million hectare in 2016-17, recording an increase of 2.6 percent over previous year.
According to estimates, the country will witness record production of spices this year. It is estimated to be around 8.2 million tonnes which is 17.4 percent higher than the previous year.
Potato production in the country has increased from 43.4 million tonnes to 48.2 million tonnes in the current year which is 11.1 percent higher than the previous year. Major Potato growing States are Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.
The flowers production is estimated to be around 2.3 million tonnes, 4.3 percent higher than the previous year. The production of Aromatics and Medicinal Plants is estimated to be around 1.04 million tonnes, which is 2 per cent higher than the previous year. The production of plantation crops such as areca nut, cashewnut, cocoa and coconut is estimated to be around 18.3 million tonnes which is 10.2 percent higher than the previous year.