The growth rate of fruit and vegetable production is likely to decline by almost one per cent in 2014-15 due to drought in several parts and the recent unseasonal rains and hailstorm, Minister of State for Agricutlure Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said.
Replying to questions in Rajya Sabha, he said due to drought in several parts of the country followed by unseasonal rains and hailstorms, the growth rate in the segment "will remain at 2.1 per cent", as against 3.2 per cent in 2013-14.
India's share in global horticulture (fruits and vegetables) during the years 2011-12 to 2013-14 has been increasing, and its production is estimated to rise by 2.1 per cent during 2014-15 (provisional figure).
Asking a supplementary, Sharad Yadav (JD-U) said the consumer affairs department was defunct and demanded its strengthening.
To this, Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal said "what was not done in the past 10 years, this government has done in 10 months". She agreed that the department was defunct, but said its functioning has now improved.
When Anand Sharma (Cong) raised the issue of FDI in multi-brand retail, Balyan said he would not be able to a "direct reply".
Replying to another question, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said due to unseasonal rains and adverse climatic conditions relaxation in quality norms of wheat procurement during 2015-16 has been allowed with nominal value cut in some states.
These states were Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
