Uttar Pradesh is fast emerging as a hub for fruit and vegetables by registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15 per cent and fresh arrival of vegetables produced across the state to the wholesale markets from about 28 lakh tonne in 2008-09 to over 43 lakh tonne in 2011-12.
It is expected to be 46 lakh tonne by the end of the current fiscal year 2013-14, according to a recent study titled 'Horticulture Sector in India: The State-level Experience' by the research bureau of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (ASSOCHAM), the apex trade body.
“However, due to the poor or non-availability of post-harvest farming technology, the farmers are incurring huge losses to the extent of Rs 10,000 crore per year,” ASSOCHAM said.
The market arrival of fruits produced across Uttar Pradesh has also increased from over 7 lakh tonne to over 9 lakh tonnes during the aforesaid period, thereby registering a CAGR of over eight per cent. Besides, the state accounts for over 15 per cent and over five per cent share in the market arrivals of vegetables and fruit produced throughout India.
Guava, litchi, mango and pomegranate are the leading fruits produced in Uttar Pradesh, and brinjal, cabbage, cauliflower, okra, onion, peas, tomato, potato and sweet potato are the leading veggies produced in the state.
“Over 185 lakh tonnes of vegetables are produced in Uttar Pradesh annually, and at about twelve per cent, the state commands the second highest share in the total quantity of vegetables produced in India (estimated to be over 1,500 lakh tonne),” said D S Rawat, national secretary general, ASSOCHAM, while releasing the chamber’s study with Babu Lal Jain, chairman, ASSOCHAM Entrepreneur Development Council at a press conference in Lucknow.
“While the state produces about 58 lakh tonne of fruits each year and has the sixth highest share of about eight per cent of the 760 lakh-plus tonne of fruits produced across the country,” said Rawat.
During the three-year period between 2008-09 and 2011-12, Uttar Pradesh registered a growth rate of about 31 per cent in fruit production, while the top two fruit-producing states (i.e. Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh) registered a decline of about four per cent and 14 per cent in fruit production growth respectively.
Tamil Nadu (four per cent), Gujarat (29 per cent) and Karnataka (22 per cent) are the other top fruit-producing states that registered a growth in fruit production.
“The market arrival of fruit produced across the country has declined by over 16 per cent (i.e. from over 289 lakh tonne in 2008-09 to just over 170 lakh tonnes in 2011-12),” the study highlighted.
“While, the market arrival of vegetables produced in India has not even increased by one per cent (i.e. from about 273 lakh tonne to just over 278 lakh tonne) during the aforementioned period,” it added.
At present just about 22 per cent of the fruit and vegetables produced across India reach the wholesale markets.
While Andhra Pradesh has registered the maximum growth of about 85 per cent in the market arrivals of fruit, Madhya Pradesh has registered over 57 per cent growth in the arrival of vegetables to the wholesale markets.
Though, the number of wholesale fruit markets has increased by about 11 per cent (i.e. from about 685 in 2008-09 to about 760 in 2011-12), the ASSOCHAM study highlighted that the market reach of fruits produced has declined by over 44 per cent during the same period.
Besides, the number of wholesale vegetable markets in India increased from just over 1,000 in 2008-09 to about 1,100 in 2011-12, but the market arrival of vegetables increased by just about two per cent, while its production grew by a whopping 47 per cent.
“At present, only about 18 per cent of the vegetables produced in India reach the wholesale markets, resulting in the thriving of middlemen who purchase it from farmers at a lower price. They are unable to access the available markets, as they may incur huge transportation costs,” said ASSOCHAM's secretary general.
With vegetable production worth over 234 lakh tonne and a share of about 15 per cent, West Bengal leads in vegetable production across India, and has also clocked market arrival growth of about seven per cent.
In its study, ASSOCHAM also highlighted that India incurs post-harvest fruit and vegetable losses worth over Rs 2 lakh crore each year, largely owing to the absence of food processing units, modern cold storage facilities and a callous attitude towards tackling the grave issue of post-harvest losses.
West Bengal leads the pack in this regard with annual post-harvest losses worth over Rs 13,657 crore, followed by Gujarat (Rs 11,400 crore); Bihar (Rs 10,700 crore), and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 10,300 crore).
“Developing wholesale markets together with enhancing the cold storage capacities in local and regional markets are the key for reducing post-harvest fruit and vegetable losses and enhancing their market arrival,” according to the study.
Currently, over 77 million tonne of fruit and about 150 million tonne of vegetables are produced in India, and their production is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) ranging between 5-6 per cent respectively.
In its report, ASSOCHAM has projected that combined annual production of fruit and vegetables in India is likely to cross 377 million tonne-mark by 2021 from the current level of over 227 million tonne.
“However, the projected production of fruit and vegetables would only cater to the domestic demand, leaving no scope for growth on the export front, thus efforts should be made to minimise and remove supply constraints, thereby making the supply chain efficient to reduce wastage,” said Rawat.
“Besides, there is also a need to produce horticultural products for exports as it can act as an engine for growth of agri sector more so, as India accounts for just about one per cent of the total fruits and vegetables exports in the world and majority of the produce gets consumed domestically.”
Though the quantity of fruit and vegetable exports from India has declined by about six per cent during the course of the past few years, interestingly the export value has increased by over 31 per cent at the same time.
The ASSOCHAM study has stressed upon the urgent need for developing a conducive environment for exporter community as they have been facing severe supply constraints like high transportation costs, inadequate infrastructure, technology and others yielding huge gaps and logistical costs, thereby hampering India’s competitiveness in the world trade market.
