ศูนย์นวัตกรรมเทคโนโลยีหลังการเก็บเกี่ยว

Regionwise study of production and consumption of fruits and vegetables in India.

Srivastava, D.;

Acta Horticulturae Year: 1991 Issue: No. 270 Pages: 215-222

1991

บทคัดย่อ

India grows tropical, semi-temperate and temperate fruits and vegetables. The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine distribution by region of area under fruit and vegetables: (2) to estimate the percentage share of consumer's expenditure on fruit and vegetables; and (3) assess the potential for growth of both production and consumption of fruit and vegetables. The reference year of this study was 1983/84. For the country as a whole, total area under both fruit and vegetables was 2.8% of the total cropped area with a gross return of Rs. 65 070 million (1983/84), which accounted for a 10.18% share in agricultural gross output. Except for Haryana, Punjab, Sikkim and Tripura, all other regions had large areas of cultivable waste land which could be utilized for growing tree crops. Examination of the consumption data show that very little was spent on fruit and vegetables. However, in all the regions, consumption of fruit and vegetables was higher in urban than in rural areas. To avoid malnutrition, it is extremely important to popularize the consumption of these products. Since horticultural crops are highly perishable, it is important to provide a proper support system and infrastructural facilities during both pre- and post-harvest operations. Though establishment of the National Horticultural Board and a separate Ministry for processing are steps in the right direction, there is need for more aggressive/innovative approaches which may include public distribution of quality seed and planting material, integrated pest management, refrigerated transport facilities, mobile training camps, mobile processing units along with appropriate fiscal and other institutional arrangements.