India produces around 286 million tonnes of horticulture products

The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has said that there is tremendous potential for development of the horticulture sector and there is need to ensure focused attention for harnessing available potential through scaling up ongoing interventions.

Agriculture Minister stated that India is currently producing about 286 million tonnes of horticulture produce from an area of about 24.4 million hectare, accounting for about 13 percent of the total world production of fruits and leads the world in the production of mango, banana, papaya, sapota, pomegranate, acid lime and aonla.

Shri Singh informed the session that India is the second largest producer of vegetables after China and is a leader in production of vegetables like peas and okra. Furthermore, India occupies the second position in production of brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower and onion and third in potato and tomato in the world.

The Minister hoped that deliberations of the In-Session Consultative Committee would help bring a clearer insight of the lead role that horticulture must play in improving livelihood options, diversification of agriculture, and higher income to farmers.

source: business-standard.com