India’s horticulture production in 2023-24

Context

India’s horticulture production in 2023-24 is estimated at about 352.23 million tonnes, reflecting a decrease of about 32.51 lakh tonnes (0.91 per cent) compared to the final estimates of 2022-23.

 Key Highlights

• Horticulture is the technological knowledge and art of cultivating culmination, greens, flora, and decorative plants. It encompasses a huge range of activities including plant propagation, production, control, and advertising.
• The Indian horticulture quarter contributes approximately 33% to the agriculture Gross Value Added (GVA) making a huge contribution to the Indian economy.
• At present, India ranks first in the manufacturing of some plants like Banana, Lime & Lemon, Papaya, Okra, and the second biggest manufacturer of veggies and fruits in the world.

Challenges and Issues Faced through the Sector

• Lack of Infrastructure: Insufficient infrastructure for publish-harvest management, garage, and transportation leads to large losses of perishable horticultural produce.
• Water Management: Horticulture is water-intensive, and water shortage or inefficient water management practices affect crop yields and fine.
• Pest and Disease Management: Pests and diseases cause enormous damage to horticultural plants, and the misuse of insecticides lead to environmental pollution and health hazards.
• Market Linkages: Limited market linkages and charge fluctuations affect farmers’ profits and discourage investment in horticultural production.
• Climate Change: Erratic climate patterns, consisting of unpredictable rainfall and temperature fluctuations, pose demanding situations to horticultural manufacturing and require edition techniques.
• Quality Standards and Certification: Meeting high standards and acquiring certification for export markets can be hard for small-scale horticultural manufacturers.

Key Initiatives to Overcome Challenges

• National Horticulture Mission (2005-06): It aims to promote holistic increase of the horticulture zone via improving production, productivity, and the quality of horticulture plants.
  • It focuses on developing infrastructure, providing technical assistance, and promoting market linkages.
• National Horticulture Board (NHB): It presents financial help, technical steerage, and market intelligence to horticulture growers, processors, and exporters to sell manufacturing, processing, and marketing of horticultural plants.
  • Cluster Development Program is a part of the imperative sector scheme of NHB that aims at leveraging the geographical specialisation of horticulture clusters and promoting integrated and market-led improvement of pre-production, production, post-harvest, logistics, branding, and advertising activities.
• Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) (2014): It integrates various horticulture development schemes under one umbrella to provide holistic guidance for the complete cost chain, from pre-manufacturing to put up-harvest control and advertising.
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY): It helps states in planning, imposing, and monitoring their horticulture improvement techniques by way of imparting financial assistance for infrastructure development, ability constructing, and different interventions.
• Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM): It helps the adoption of mechanisation in horticulture for activities like land practise, planting, harvesting, and post-harvest management to enhance performance and reduce labour dependency.

Source: The Hindu

UPSC Mains Practice Question

Q.Assess the role of National Horticulture Mission (NHM) in boosting the production, productivity and income of horticulture farms. How far has it succeeded in increasing the income of farmers? (2018)

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