India No.2 in horticulture output, but way behind China

India’s horticulture production rose 30 per cent in the last five years — an impressive rise, considering growth in the preceding five years stood at about 23 per cent.

This has placed India among the foremost countries in horticulture production, just behind China. However, despite the rise, India is way behind its nearest rival in per-hectare yield and processing of horticulture products.

China's production of fruit and vegetables in 2007 stood at about 680 million tonnes. In other words, about four years earlier, China’s annual production was 172 per cent more than India’s current production of fruits and vegetables. However, on a segregated basis, India is ahead of China in terms of the production of bananas and mangoes.

In terms of per-hectare yield, the disparity between the two is striking. In 2007, China produced 96.5 million tonnes of fruit from 10 million hectares and 583 million tonnes of vegetables from 18 million hectares.

In India, 218.2 million hectares of land was used to produce almost 240 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables in 2010-11.

“Yes, we are behind China in many respects of horticulture. However, we are either the world’s second- or third-largest producer of about 10 crops. This means there is immense scope for improvement,” Amrik Singh Sidhu, director of Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Horticulture Research told Business Standard.

The horticulture sector in India is characterised by small, segregated farms with low per-hectare yields and huge post-harvest losses, owing to outdated practices. A recent study by YES Bank showed India stored only two per cent of its horticulture products in temperature-controlled conditions, while China stored 15 per cent and Europe and North America stored 85 per cent of their products in such conditions.

Adequate cold storage facilities are available for just about 10 per cent of India’s horticulture production.

Of the total annual production, 30-40 per cent is wasted before consumption. During the peak production period, the gap between the demand and supply of cold storage capacity is a mind-boggling 25 million tonnes.

Shailendra Kumar, director of the National Centre for Cold Chain Development, said, “The maximum biggest wastage happens during the transportation of horticulture products from the farm gate to mandis and thereafter. Storage solutions can be provided only near the mandis, and this does not solve the problem. The answer lies in minimising the wastage that happens during transportation.”

He said from a farm gate to a consumer, a horticulture product passed through seven different distribution channels, and in every step, there was a loss of five-seven per cent. “So, you can imagine how big this loss is,” he said.

Processing losses also abound. While China processed about 30 per cent of the food (fruits and vegetables) in 2009, the Indian food processing industry has been set a target of raising the level of processing perishable products from six per cent to 20 per cent by 2015. The $70-billion Indian food processing industry is dominated by small and medium enterprises, which do not have the capacity to undertake large-scale processing of fruits and vegetables.

However, these challenges also present various opportunities. Sanjeev Chopra, director of the National Horticulture Mission, said, “There has been a growing interest in horticulture in the last few years from states, and this is reflected in the massive demand for funding. It shows states are eager to promote horticulture production.”

He also said as against the budgeted Rs 1,200-1,500 crore, the department has already received proposals amounting to Rs 3,000 crore from states.

“The idea behind the mission is to raise production and farmers’ incomes and cut post-harvest losses,’ he said.

Of the 140 million farmers in the country, horticulture engages about 20 million. And, since it also contributes 25-30 per cent to farm gross domestic product, it should hold a dominant position in India’s farm policy.