India’s horticulture production dips; fruits and tomatoes shine: Survey

New Delhi: India has made rapid progress in the horticulture sector in the last decade. The nation’s total production touched 353.19 million tonnes in 2023-24. It is a positive result despite the decrease in production compared to last year’s final figure of 355.48 million tonnes, as per the 3rd Advance Estimates. In spite of the overall drop in production, numerous key sectors have done extremely well.

Production of several fruits, such as mango, banana, lime/lemon, grapes, and custard apple, has made tremendous growth. On the other hand, some popular fruits like apples, sweet oranges, mandarins, guavas, litchis, pomegranates, and pineapples have seen a drop in production. This happened due to climate change and natural calamities in some parts of the country.

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Vegetable production stands at an estimated 205.80 million tonnes. While there are mixed trends in vegetable output, the production of tomatoes has gone up by 4.38% to 21.32 million tonnes. Onions are estimated at 242.44 lakh tonnes. However, potato production dipped to 57.05 million tonnes amid lower yields in Bihar and West Bengal.

However, overall production went down; experts believe that several areas, like fruits, spices, flowers, and medicinal plants, have shown positive growth. It is a matter of concern regarding the dip in the production of some other fruits and vegetables. Although India is still a big force in the horticulture sector globally. Some challenges need to be sorted out, then things will improve further; the sector is steadily expanding in vital areas.