Horticulture as a practice is as old as when humans were hunter-gatherers. It is the science and the art of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs and spices. Despite being a branch of agriculture, the cultivation of food grains aka agriculture gets more prominence in India in terms of the farm land dedicated to it and the public discourse. But, it is horticulture that holds the key to boosting farmer incomes as well as our country’s overall economic output. Here is why this seemingly far-fetched proposition can very much be a reality for India. 

The present in numbers 

Agriculture undoubtedly remains one of the largest livelihoods in India. About 42 per cent of India’s total workforce is employed in agriculture and allied activities, accounting for nearly 20 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as per data from the Economic Survey 2020-21. Of this, horticulture accounts for a third of the total agricultural gross value added. Despite horticulture occupying only a fraction of the area under agriculture (about 20% of the total area under foodgrain in 2018-19), its productivity was 12.3 tonnes per hectare versus 2.3 tonnes per hectare given by agriculture. 

These numbers are clear indicators that horticulture, even while taking up only a fraction of the cropped area in the country, is already able to generate a much higher value output. 

The seeds of growth As a positive sign, the area dedicated to horticulture is gradually rising over the years, leading to a significantly higher rise in the output generated by it. India currently stands as the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, next to China. It is, therefore, no surprise that a large amount of fruit consumed by the world such as grapes, mangoes, pomegranates, oranges, etc. and spices such as black pepper, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, saffron, etc., take their roots in India. A lot of vegetables consumed by the world, including tomatoes, onions, green chilly, potatoes and many others, also come from the country’s soil. 

In addition, government policies and schemes such as the Mission for Integrated Development Horticulture (MIDH) offer a great stimulus to ensure the holistic development of the horticulture sector in the country.  The awareness raised by schemes such as the MIDH is ensuring a steady rise in the land area under horticulture. The average horticulture farmer household income grew from 0.73 lakh per annum to 1.30 lakh per annum (an average of 78% rise) ever since the National Horticulture Mission programme has been implemented, as per a study conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Change in 2017. 

Hedges to overcome 

Tapping more land for horticulture comes with the opportunity of not just increasing farmer income, but also lending a shot in the arm to the country’s food production capabilities. But, like any other farming practice, horticulture farming, too, is ridden with its own set of challenges. While unpredictability brought on by nature remains a constant, horticulturalists also face hurdles such as difficulty in accessing institutional loans and a lack of insight into the market needs and opportunities. 

When compared to food grain production, horticulture requires a farmer to tend to each of the plants on the farm, thereby making it much more labour-intensive. Therefore, input costs for horticulture are also much higher in comparison, making the transition from agriculture to horticulture a difficult step for many farmers. For those already practising horticulture farming, the gap in the availability of infrastructure such as cold-storage facilities right from the village level makes it difficult to keep the high-value fruits and vegetables safe from the weather conditions. Despite the country being the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables, nearly 30-35 per cent of the output is said to be wasted due to post-harvest losses arising from an inefficient supply chain. 

Government schemes such as the Operations Greens to uplift the tomato, onion and potato farmers and value chain in the country through minimum support prices help to a great extent in shielding farmers from external variables. Extending these minimum support prices to other vegetables and fruits can help empower horticulturalists and further increase their incomes. 

Technology comes bearing fruit 

With an upswing in horticulture adoption, several newer opportunities are also opening up, thanks to technology. Agtech has become a booming sector globally and in India, inviting high interest from venture capital and private equity investors. An Ernst & Young study sees the potential of the Indian agtech market to be about $24 billion worth by 2025. 

Leveraging emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain, etc., several agtech companies are able to bring predictability and precision into farming, aspects that could never be tied to farming before. Big data is helping in efficient supply chain management, yield prediction, and therefore, predictable income for farmers. Through the aforementioned precision farming technologies, startups are able to help horticulture farmers get a better picture of their farms, receive real-time alerts and advisory on the weather, soil conditions, pest and disease predictions and much more. 

Thanks to technological interventions in recent years and the 1300+ agtech startups in India dedicated to improving the entire ecosystem, horticulture production in the country has more than doubled from 146 million tonnes in 2001-02 to about 314 million tonnes in 2018-19. Technology has been able to create a manifold impact for horticulture farmers and their crops, as per the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) research. For instance, high-tech farming has been able to increase yield up to an average of 5-8 times more and save on inputs such as water (upto 50%), fertilisers (25%) as well as pesticides. Farmers are now able to predict the incomes they can achieve through their farming practices. 

Considering all these factors, it is evident that horticulture can unlock the next level of possibilities not just for farmers in doubling their incomes (and more), but also for the country on the whole to bolster its economic output.

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Views expressed above are the author's own.

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