More importantly, the technology-led gains in the productivity of horticultural crops have given the farmers an opportunity to diversify from food and other crops to horticulture. The two notable points here are that the small and marginal farmers have taken a lead in this direction and that a sizable chunk of land that has been brought under horticultural crops is irrigated. According to Agricultural Census 2010-11, over 87 per cent of the total vegetables and 90 per cent of fruits are grown by small landholders. This could be because the cultivation of horticultural crops, particularly vegetables, is highly labour-intensive and, therefore, suits small cultivators who can manage it largely with family labour. Nearly 73 per cent of land producing the eight main vegetables (onion, potato, tomato, okra, cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal and tapioca) has access to irrigation.
The impact of irrigation, better agronomic practices and improved varieties is well reflected in the robust growth of horticultural output, which is estimated at around seven per cent a year in the past decade. The acreage under horticulture has also grown by around two per cent a year. Significantly, horticultural production has either continued to grow or dip only marginally even during bad monsoon years, including the drought years of 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2015. The overall share of horticulture in the agriculture sector's gross domestic product (agricultural GDP) has grown to over 30 per cent even though it accounts for only 17 per cent of farm land.
That said, the truth also is that the horticulture sector could have done even better but for several formidable constrains that have yet to be addressed. The most significant among these is the lack of market support and paucity of post-harvest produce management chain from farm to fork. Most growers do not get reasonable returns for their produce though consumer prices remain high due to multiplicity of intermediaries in horticultural marketing. Distress sales and mass destruction of the produce in a bid to contain losses are not uncommon in this sector. There are instances where the producers do not turn up to reclaim their stocks kept in cold stores because the charges to be paid would exceed the realisation from the sale of the stocks. Besides, a sizable part of horticultural output is wasted due to improper post-harvest handling and want of processing facilities.
Since modern horticulture requires investments in micro-irrigation systems, construction of green houses and grading and packaging of the produce, it needs to get better access to cheap institutional finance and adequate marketing support. Expansion of the fruits and vegetable processing industry with backwards linkages with farmers can help in value-addition and waste reduction of the horticultural produce, thus, ensuring higher returns to growers. The recently created price stabilisation fund can and, in fact, should be used to prevent wide price fluctuations which often hurt both producers and consumers.
Though fruit crops, most of which are perennial in nature, cannot quickly respond to demand and price signals, vegetables, being short-duration crops, can do so. But this also is not happening, not even in the case of mass consumed items like onion, potato and tomato. This is because the benefits of high prices do not generally accrue to the growers. These are usually cornered by the middlemen. If these aspects are taken care of, the horticultural sector would be in a better position to meet the fast growing and rapidly changing needs and preferences of the consumers.