India and Asian Development Bank have signed a $98 million loan to support horticultural crop producers. It aims to build clean plant centres, set up diagnostic testing laboratories, and educate experts in clean plant procedures. Horticulture accounts for 33% of the agriculture Gross Value Added and India's second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables.
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The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $98 million loan to support horticultural crop producers.
The loan agreement objectives include building clean plant centres to ensure disease-free foundation materials, as well as setting up laboratories for diagnostic testing and educating experts in clean plant procedures.
The loan supports Building India's Clean Plant Programme (CPP) to promote plant health management and improve the productivity of horticulture farmers in India.
The clean plant certification method will accredit and certify private nurseries' planting materials, assuring that they are disease-free and fit for horticultural production.
The clean plant centres will include modern laboratories with advanced diagnostic testing methods, as well as trained professionals in clean plant operations and diagnostic processes.
Horticulture is the practice of growing plants such as fruits, vegetables, spices, sauces, decorative, plantation, medicinal, and fragrant plants.
India has an edge in producing fruits and vegetables at a low cost due to a combination of factors such as favourable agro-climatic conditions, labour availability, and low input prices. As a result, fruits and vegetables make up over 90% of the country's total horticulture production.
India is the world's second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables, behind China. India is the leading producer of crops such as banana, lime, lemon, papaya, and okra.
Horticulture accounts for almost 33% of India's agriculture Gross Value Added (GVA), despite covering only 13.1% of the total cropped area.
From 2013-14 to 2023-24, the area under horticultural crops expanded from 24 million hectares to 28.63 million hectares, with production rising from 277.4 million metric tonnes (MT) to 352 million.
Horticultural crops have higher production than cereal grains. Horticulture crops produce about 12.49 tonnes/ha, while food grains produce 2.23 tonnes/ha.
India is a major exporter and importer of fresh fruits. In fiscal year 2023-24, India exported $1.15 billion of fresh fruits and imported $2.73 billion of fruits.
Horticulture encourages crop diversity, helps in soil protection and promotes organic farming while increasing farmer income through cash crops such as cashews and areca nuts.
It is a labor-intensive industry, with major employment opportunities in production, processing, and marketing. For example, one hectare of fruit cultivation produces 860 man-days per year, whereas cereal crops produce only 143 man-days.
Increased production and consumption of fruits and vegetables help in the fight against malnutrition, including iron deficiency in women.
They contribute to India's export diversification and expansion into new agricultural markets.
They are more tolerant to climate change and require less water than food grains, which boosts overall production.
Pests and diseases frequently harm horticultural crops, such as blight fungus in potatoes and bacterial blights in pomegranates.
Small landholdings and poor irrigation infrastructure increase production costs and impair price competitiveness.
The sector lacks suitable post-harvest and marketing infrastructure, such as cold storage, refrigerated transportation, and processing facilities.
Poor post-harvest management results in between 30-35% of fruits and vegetables perishing, with only 2% being turned into value-added goods.
India's horticulture processing factories are minor in size and capacity, limiting exports in comparison to countries such as China and Brazil.
Small farmers struggle to market their produce effectively, dependent on local haats and international trade facing non-tariff challenges such as sanitary and phytosanitary regulations.
The Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) promotes the holistic development of the horticulture sector, which includes crops such as fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, spices, and aromatic plants.
The National Horticulture Board (NHB) is implementing the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme to help horticulture clusters become more globally competitive.
The CHAMAN (Coordinated Programme on Horticulture Assessment and Management using Geoinformatics) program estimates horticulture crop area and production through remote sensing and sample surveys.
The Clean Plant Programme (CPP) focuses on providing disease-free mother plants to improve the quality of fruit crops throughout India.
Operation Greens focuses on the holistic development of tomatoes, onions, and potatoes (TOPs).
Agricultural export zones and food parks were established to improve horticultural crop processing facilities.
The Horticulture Sector can be improved by implementing climate-smart practices, efficient water management, integrated pest management, and investments in infrastructure and value chain development.
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PRACTICE QUESTION Q.Critically analyze the significance of the horticulture sector for promoting rural development. (150 words) |
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