India’s Major Crops: Horticulture

There has been a common myth that India produces more food grains than fruits & vegetables. The fact is that fruits & vegetables are grown more than food grains in India. In 2012-13, food grain production was 257 million tonnes but the total horticulture production was 268.9 Million Tonnes. Over the last decade, the area under horticulture grew by about 3% per annum and annual production increased by 5.4%.  Also, India now produces and consumes (also wastes) more fruits and vegetables than rice & wheat. In fact, in recent times, horticulture has become the growth driver of India’s agriculture with India’s emergence as second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after China. That is where the importance of Food Processing Industry gets importance from.

Latest Production Data

During 2016-17, the production of horticulture crops was about 295.2 million tonnes from an area of 24.9 million hectares.  The production of vegetables has increased from 58.5 million tonnes to 175 million tonnes since 1991-92 to 2016-17 (2nd Advance Estimate) as depicted in below graphics:

Out of the total horticultural production, the contribution of vegetables remains highest (59 – 61%) in last few years.

Largest Horticultural Production states

Vegetables

During 2016-17(2nd Adv Est), total vegetable production was highest in case of Uttar Pradesh (26.4 million tonnes) followed by West Bengal (25.5 million tonnes.

Fruits

During 2016-17, Total fruit production was highest in case of Andhra Pradesh (120.98 Lakh Tonnes) followed by Maharashtra (103.78 Lakh Tonnes).

Flowers

In terms of flowers production; while Tamil Nadu has the highest share of production of flowers.

Top Horticultural Commodities

• India’s top produced fruit is Banana (32%), followed by Mango (21%). On the other hand, Mango is cultivated on largest area in comparison to any other fruit. Top cultivator state of Banana is Tamil Nadu; and of Mango are Uttar Pradesh (24.4%) and Andhra Pradesh (24.5%).
• India’s largest produced vegetables are Potato, followed by Tomato. Among vegetables, largest area under cultivation is that of Potato.
• India’s largest produced plantation crop is coconut while India’s largest produced spices crop is Chillies.
• Maharashtra is India’s largest Cashew and Grape producer; while Karnataka is largest Areca nut producer. Kerala is largest Cocoa producer. Madhya Pradesh is largest Guava producer.
• Tamil Nadu is India’s largest Coconut producing state, while Kerala is India’s largest Cocoa producing state.
• Jammu & Kashmir is India’s largest apple producing state, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
• The following table presents the information for a crisp overview of various states having first position in production in various farm commodities.

Key Fruit Crops

Apple

Around 20 Lakh tonnes of Apple is produced in India every year. The top apple producing states of India are Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand & Arunachal Pradesh with their respective shares of 70%, 21.5%, 6.4% and 1.6%. Further, apple is also produced in Mizoram, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland also. Key apple varieties include: Michal, Mollies Delicious, Maayan, Anna, Chaubattia Anupam, Rich-e-Red, Gala, Firdous, Lal ambri , Kinnauri Apple etc.

Banana

With an annual production of 265 Lakh tonnes; Banana is most produced fruit of India. Main Banana producing states are Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Madhya Pradesh. Key varieties of Banana include Dwarf Cavendish; Robusta; Rasthali; Poovan; Nendran; Red Banana; Karpurvalli; Pachanadan; Virupakshi etc.

GI Protected Banana Varieties

Five varieties of Banana have been given GI protection in India. These include:

• Nanjanagud Banana and Kamalapur Red Banana from Karnataka
• Virupakshi Hill Banana & Sirumalai Hill Banana from Tamil Nadu
• Chengalikodan Nendran Banana from Kerala

Orange

India produces around 29 Lakh tonnes of Orange every year. Top orange producing states of India are Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra Rajasthan, Assam and Karnataka. The major varieties of Orange produced in India include Coorg mandarin, Khasi mandarin, Nagpur mandarin and Kinnow.  Coorg Orange, Nagpur Orange and Arunachal Wackro Orange have been given GI protection.

Wakro is a location in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh. The buyers from Assam used to come here and purchase these oranges at low rates. Then, they were neatly packed and sent to Bangladesh, rebranded as Bangladeshi products and exported to West Asian countries. It is hoped that GI protection would save the brand originality of Wakro oranges.

Grapes

Around 25 Lakh tonnes of grapes are produced in India every year. The top Grapes producing states include Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Mizoram. The most grown variety of grapes is Thompson Seedless and its clones. The grapes varieties which have been given GI protection are Nashik Grapes and Bangalore Blue Grapes.

Guava

Top Guava producer states of India are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab,Gujarat & Karnataka.

Litchi

India produces around 6 Lakh tonnes of Litchi mainly in Bihar, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Jharkhand. Bihar alone accounts for nearly half of the country’s total litchi output. This is one of the fruits of India whose domestic marketing as well as export potential are yet to be tapped.

We note here that some Litchi grown in India is of high quality and high pulp-to-stone ratio (makes it suitable for exports). Further, Indian litchi is harvested between Mid-April to June; when good quality litchi is not available from other countries such except some countries such as Thailand. On the other hand, other Litchi exporters such as Madagascar, South Africa and Australia harvest Litchi in November / February while Israel in October. Thus, Indian litchi does not need to compete with the other exporters. But the problem is of paucity of infrastructure, cold stores and other components of cold chain management.

Main varieties of Litchi include Shahi, Elaichi, Rose scented, Bombai, Purbi, Calcuttia etc.

Mango

India produced some 180 Lakh tonnes of Mango with major production in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. There are hundreds of varieties of Mango in India which include Alphonso; Banganapalli; Bombay Green; Chausa; Dashehari; Fazli; Gulab Khas; Himsagar; Kesar; Kishen Bhog; Langra; Mankurad; Neelum; Pairi; Totapuri; Mulgoa; Imam Pasand; Suvernarekha; Van raj; Zardalu; CIHS, Lucknow (Hybrid); Ambika; Mallika; Amrapali; Pusa Arunima; Pusa Surya etc.

GI Protected Mango varieties

There are six varieties of Mango that have been protected under Geographical Indications registry in India. These are as follows:

• Laxman Bhog Mango, Khirsapati (Himsagar) Mango and Fazli Mango of Malda district – West Bengal
• Mango Malihabadi Dusseheri – Uttar Pradesh
• Appemidi Mango – Karnataka
• Gir Kesar Mango – Gujarat

Papaya

With some 54 Lakh tonnes of Papaya production every year; India is world’s largest producer of this fruit. The largest Papaya producing states include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra. Three notable varieties of Papaya include Pusa Delicious, Pusa Dwarf and Pusa Nanha.  However, India’s share in Papaya exports is minimal. Further, the low productivity is one of the major issues in our country, mainly due to traditional cultivation practices of local varieties. Other issues related to Papaya cultivation include pests such as ‘mealy bug’, lack of knowhow on post harvesting; lack of correct marketing strategies, non-availability of HYV seeds etc.

 Key Vegetable Crops

Potato

With 415 Lakh tonnes production; India is third largest producer of Potato after China and Russia. Top potato producing states of India are Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal. Most of the varietries of Potato grown in India currently havce been developed by Central Potato Research Institute, Kufri (Himachal Pradesh) so their names are prefixed with Kufri e.g. Kufri Sindhuri, Kufri Chandramukhi, Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Lauvkar, Kufri Badshah, Kufri Bahar, Kufri Swarna, Kufri Ashoka, Kufri Pukhraj, Kufri Kanchan and so on.

Onion

With some 194 Lakh tonnes of Onion Production in 2013-14; India is second largest producer of Onion in the world. India’s largest onion producing states are Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka  and Gujarat. Key Onion varieties include Pusa White Flat, Pusa White Round, Pusa Madhavi, Arka Kalyan, Arka Niketan, etc.

Constraints in vegetables production

1. Lack of planning in Production
2. Non-availability of seeds of improved varieties.
3. High cost of basic production elements
4. Inadequate plant protection measures and non-availability of resistant varieties.
5. Weak marketing facilities
6. Transportation limits
7. Post harvest losses
8. Abiotic stresses.