Horticulture production in India seen up 3.2% in 2016-17

Production of horticulture crops in the country during 2016-17 is estimated at over 295 million tonnes, an increase of 3.2 per cent compared to the previous year's estimates, official data released on Tuesday showed.

Area under horticulture crops also recorded an increase of 1.9 per cent over the previous year, the second advance estimates of area and production of horticulture crops for 2016-17 released by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare showed.

Estimates, based on information received from different state / UTs in the country, showed that the area under horticulture crops has increased from 24.5 million hectares to 24.9 million hectares in 2016-17, recording an increase of 1.9 per cent over previous year.

Production of fruits during 2016-17 is estimated to be 93 million tonnes, which is 2.9 per cent higher than the previous year.

Production of vegetables during the year is estimated to be around 175 million tonnes, which is 3.5 per cent higher than in the previous year.

With 21.6 million tonnes estimated onion production in the country, there is an increase of 3 per cent over the previous year. The major onion producing states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat.

Potato production in the country has increased from 43.4 million tonnes in 2015-16 to 46.5 million tonnes in the current year, which is 7.2 per cent higher than in the previous year. Major potato growing states are Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab.

Tomato production during the year 2016-17 is estimated to be around 19.7 million tones, which is 5.1 percent higher than in the previous year. The major tomato growing states are Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and Gujarat.

Production of flowers during the year is estimated to be around 2.2 million tones, which is 2.9 per cent higher than in the previous year.

Production of aromatics and medicinal plants is estimated to be around 1.03 million tones, which is marginally higher by 0.8 per cent compared to the previous year.

During the year 2016-17, production of plantation crops is estimated to be around 17 million tones, which is 1.3 per cent higher than in the previous year.

Production of spices is estimated to be around 7.1 million tones, which is 1.3 per cent higher than in the previous year.