Horticulture production to hit record 315 MT this year

NEW DELHI: India’s bumper horticulture harvest keeps getting bigger with this year’s production expected to touch a new record of 314.67 million tonnes (MT), nearly 1% higher than last year and 8% higher than the five-year average.

Advance estimates released by the agriculture ministry on Wednesday show that overall production of horticultural produce (fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers) in the 2018-19 crop year (July-June) will be better than the 311.7 MT recorded last year.

The glut, however, is also a cause for worry with observers and farm experts questioning whether farmers would actually reap the benefits of such bumper output. High production depresses prices and farmers are left in the lurch.

Production of high-focus TOP (tomato, onion and potato) is estimated to be higher than the output of these crops in 2017-18 with potato at 52.58 MT recording 6% growth, followed by tomato (2% higher) and onion (1.5% higher).

Records show that horticulture production has been consistently rising since 2012-13. “Production is up. Producer is down. That’s the story of Indian agriculture,” tweeted Yogendra Yadav, national president of Swaraj India who has been raising farm related issues.

The remarks summed up what other observers too feel about growing production of not only horticultural produce but also of foodgrains. “Record production of horticulture crops is the result of favourable weather and expectations of higher income based on past experience. But record production is not translating into higher returns,” Kisan Jagriti Manch president Sudhir Panwar said.

Panwar, a farm expert and former member of Uttar Pradesh Planning Commission, cited two major reasons for it. “First, the central government’s policy of containing inflation in food items and second, over-dominance of middlemen in supply chain of fruits and vegetables, specifically corporates, in some segments,” he told TOI.

“Initial efforts of government such as ‘price stabilisation funds’ and boost of food processing industry could not be rolled out because of budgetary constraints and lack of focused approach,” he added.

Actual production figures of horticultural crops in 2017-18 show that fruits recorded slightly higher growth than vegetables. Production of fruits in 2017-18 was estimated at 97.35 MT which was 4.8% higher than the previous year. Vegetables’ output at 187.5 MT in 2017-18, on the other hand, was 3.5% higher than 2016-17.