Indian production of horticulture crops such as fruits and vegetables touched a record high of 295 million tonnes (mt) in 2016-17, according to the second advance estimates released by the agriculture ministry on Tuesday.
The latest estimates are an upward revision over the 287 mt estimated by the ministry in February (first advance estimate), and 3.1% more than the 286 mt produced in 2015-16.
The record horticulture production in 2016-17 marks the fifth straight year that production of fruits and vegetables outstripped output of food grain. Data from the farm ministry further shows the area under horticulture crops rose 1.9%, from 24.5 million hectares (ha) in 2015-16 to 24.9 million ha in 2016-17.
The estimates show that in 2016-17, production of fruits rose to 92.8 mt from 90.2 mt in 2015-16, while vegetable production rose from 169 mt to 175 mt. Among major vegetables, production of potatoes, tomatoes and onions rose during the year, the data shows.
While production of potatoes rose from 43.4 mt to 46.5 mt (7.2%) between 2015-16 and 2016-17, production of tomatoes rose from 18.7 mt to 19.7 mt (5.1%). Onions rose from 20.9 mt to 21.6 mt (3%).
source: livemint.com