Horticulture output outpaces foodgrains by 10% in 2014-15

Country's horticulture production has surpassed foodgrains output by over 10 per cent at 283.47 million tonnes for the third straight year in 2014-15 despite poor monsoon and unseasonal rains.
Foodgrains output in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) fell by 3.2 per cent to 257.07 million tonnes due to 12 per cent deficit rains and unseasonal rains during February-March.
Horticultural crops comprise of fruits, vegetables, flowers, plantation crops, spices and aromatics, while foodgrains basket contains wheat, rice, coarse cereals and pulses.
"India witnessed the shift in area from foodgrains towards horticultural crops over last five years... The production of horticultural crops has outpaced the production of foodgrains since 2012-13," according to the book 'Horticultural Statistics at a Glance 2015' released by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh here today.

The area under horticultural crops has increased by about 18 per cent in past five years but expansion of area under foodgrains crops was only 5 per cent in the said period, the book mentioned.
According to the provisional data, production of horticultural crops in 2014-15 has increased to 283.47 million tonnes from 277.35 million tonnes in the previous year.

Of total horticultural crops, production of vegetables was 168.3 million tonnes, flowers at 88.81 million tonnes, plantation crops at 17.13 million tonnes, flowers at 3.23 million tonnes and spices at 3.16 million tonnes in 2014-15.
Releasing the book, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said: "Efficient implementation of programme and policies call for robust information in time. In this backdrop, this book presents the overall information on horticulture, focusing on area, production and yield estimates apart from details related to price, market arrivals and export."

On export front, the Agriculture Ministry said grapes occupies the premier position in exports, followed by banana and mango. Even exports of fresh vegetables have been on the rise.
The final data of horticultural crops for 2014-15 crop year would be released in January.