Horticultural Products Log 9% Growth In 8th Plan

The output of horticultural products is estimated to have registered a record annual growth of about nine per cent in the Eighth Plan, touching 141 million-tonne mark in 1996-97, against 96.1 million tonne in 1990-91. A similar jump is envisaged in the Ninth Plan with a production target of 183.9 million tonne for the terminal year.

Disclosing this at the two-day national conference on horticulture that began here yesterday, agriculture secretary Kamal Pande attributed the fast growth to a massive step up in public investment in this sector